City remains on full alert after Azahari's death

City remains on full alert after Azahari's death

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Police said on Thursday that they would remain on full
alert until after the New Year in anticipation of any possibility
of terror attacks after the death of fugitive terrorist Azahari
bin Husin in Batu, Malang, East Java, on Wednesday.

General crimes unit chief at the Jakarta Police Sr. Comr. Moh.
Jaelani said that they would extend the full alert to the
Christmas and New Year period.

"The Jakarta Police chief has ordered us to be ready to face
possible terror threats. Initially, our full alert was to last
only until Nov. 17. We will continue to evaluate the security
situation in the capital on a daily basis," he told The Jakarta
Post.

Jaelani said that police were still on full alert after the
Oct. 1 suicide bomb attacks destroyed two cafes and a restaurant
in Jimbaran and Kuta on Bali, killing 23 people and injuring more
than 130 others.

City police have deployed around 17,000 personnel to secure
the city. They have also beefed up security at certain places
after Detachment 88, the police's special antiterror squad,
released information that there was a high possibility of bomb
attacks during Idul Fitri.

Jaelani said that more detectives were also deployed across
the city after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the
police to increase security measures last Friday following the
escape of terrorist Omar al-Farouq.

Al-Farouq, known as a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden and the
leader of the al-Qaeda terror network in Southeast Asia, escaped
from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan in July. However, only after a
trial over a case of prisoners' torture in Fort Bliss on
Wednesday news of the escape was leaked to the media.

The Indonesian authorities captured al-Farouq in June 2002 in
Bogor, West Java, where he had adopted an alias and had two
children with an Indonesian wife. He was later handed over to
U.S. authorities.

Jaelani said that the security measures were also in response
to a warning from the Australian government, which claimed last
Friday that it had credible information that terrorists may
launch new bomb attacks in Indonesia before the end of the year.

He said that Jakarta Police had deployed more detectives at
the neighborhood level and has asked residents to immediately
report any new neighbors to nearby police stations.

Azahari and his accomplices had hidden for months in a villa
in a crowded neighborhood in Batu before the police were able to
trace him.

Meanwhile, an explosive device, complete with a timer, was
found in the car wash section at Soekarno-Hatta airport on
Thursday morning.

Airport spokesman Waspan said that the explosive which was
discovered at around 9:40 a.m. inside a van, had been diffused by
the police bomb squad, which came immediately to the site.

He said that the van's driver had been taken away by police
for questioning.

Jaelani confirmed later that wired explosive had been found at
the airport but said that the bomb squad was still examining it.