Antiterror squad guards 23 sites

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Anticipating terrorist attacks around Christmas and New Year, Jakarta Police have deployed hundreds of members of antiterror squad Detachment 88 at churches, embassy buildings, hotels and shopping centers.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Sunday that the police would focus on the 23 locations as they were strategic places that would be visited by many people during Christmas and new year celebrations.

"Besides the antiterror squad, we have also deployed several intelligence officers around the 23 places to monitor the surrounding environment. Most of the places are located in Central Jakarta. We want to focus more in guarding these places," he said.

Firman said that police had increased the number of churches and places of worship to be guarded from 640 to 1,252 in Greater Jakarta after a recent survey revealed that more new churches had been established.

He said that the police would also guard 900 other buildings, including offices and shopping centers.

Firman said that Jakarta Police were still on full alert and had readied around 17,000 of a total of 24,000 personnel to guard churches where services would be held on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Earlier, police said that they would deploy more personnel at certain churches, such as Jakarta Cathedral and other churches in Central Jakarta as many people were expected to come there during Christmas.

General crimes unit chief at the Jakarta Police, Sr. Comr. Moh. Jaelani, said all of the units, including the intelligence division, detective units, bomb squads and mobile brigade units would be involved in the operation.

He said that the police would not lower their level of alert after the new year, in spite of the fact that Malaysian bombing mastermind Azahari bin Husin had been killed recently as his accomplice Noordin M. Top still had many new recruits that could launch attacks anywhere in Indonesia, especially, in Jakarta, during Christmas and new year.

Azahari and his close aide Noordin reportedly masterminded major attacks on Western targets in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali blasts, which killed 202 people, mostly tourists. They were also believed to have played a role in the Oct. 1 Bali bombing, which killed 23 people, including the three suicide bombers.

Suspected members of Jamaah Islamiyah bombed 11 churches on Christmas Eve across the country in 2000, killing 19 people.

Azahari was killed during a police raid in Batu, Malang, West Java, last month, but were still hunting down Noordin after he managed to escape arrest.

A document found during a raid on one of Noordin's hideouts said that the terrorist group planned to launch bomb attacks on several places in Jakarta.

Firman also reiterated that information from Detachment 88 suggested that the terrorist group was aiming at the capital.

State Intelligence Agency (BIN) head Syamsir Siregar warned last Wednesday that he had received information suggesting that terrorists were planning attacks over the Christmas-new year period in large cities across the sprawling archipelago, including Jakarta.