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.