Antiterror squad guards 23 sites

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.