Indonesia, Philippines on alert for Easter attacks by new Islamic

Indonesia, Philippines on alert for Easter attacks by new Islamic
militants

Agence France-Presse
Jakarta

Indonesia and the Philippines were on alert on Friday for Islamic
militant attacks aimed to disrupt Christian celebrations of
Easter while foreigners were warned over their safety.

Police in both countries said they were hunting for radicals
connected to Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and the Abu Sayyaf, two
leading Southeast Asian extremist outfits both believed to have
ties to al-Qaeda, after a foiled bomb plot.

Meanwhile, Britain, Japan and the United States have all
issued warnings advising their citizens to exercise caution in
Indonesia and the Philippines or stay away amid a heightened risk
of attack and kidnapping.

Military sources in Manila said some 10 Jamaah Islamiyah and
Abu Sayyaf militants were on the loose and could hit targets
across the Philippines after authorities uncovered a plot to bomb
"soft targets" in the capital over Easter.

Their warning came after the arrest of two extremists from
both groups earlier this week and the seizure of 10 sacks of
explosives.

One of the detainees, an alleged bomb maker believed to be
Indonesian, whom police identified as Rohmat, told reporters
after his arrest that the Abu Sayyaf were plotting major attacks
in the southern cities of Davao and Cagayan de Oro in addition to
Manila.

Some 15,000 police officers were deployed across Manila to
guard vital installations while personnel were on guard at
churches around the predominantly Catholic country.

In the northern Philippine village of Cutud, where thousands
of tourists converged to witness a bloody ritual of Christian
penitents being nailed to the cross, police armed with assault
rifles were patrolling the streets.

The British embassy in Manila has issued a warning that
terrorists in the country were in the "final stages of planning
an attack that could occur any time."

Citizens were advised against travel to central, southern and
western Mindanao, and the Sulu archipelago where operations
against separatist groups such as Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front were continuing.

The U.S. also updated its advisory saying reprisals by the Abu
Sayyaf group were possible, while Hong Kong's Security Bureau
warned its residents to take extra care if traveling to the
Philippines.

In Indonesia, where Easter is also a holiday although country
is the world's largest Muslim-populated country, police said they
were hunting up to 20 Indonesian graduates of a JI training camp
in the Philippines believed to have returned home to carry out
attacks.

JI has been blamed for the October 2002 Bali bombings in which
202 people died, in addition to deadly attacks on a Jakarta hotel
in 2003 and a blast outside the Australian embassy in September
last year.

Indonesia's Security Affairs Minister Widodo Adi Sucipto said
security and intelligence operations were being stepped up over
Easter after a grenade attack this week in an area plagued by
violence between Muslims and Christians.

At least 14 people were injured in the attack in Ambon, the
capital of the eastern Maluku island chain where 5,000 people
died in sectarian clashes before a 2002 peace pact and sporadic
incidents have continued to claim lives.

"We are not going to take any chances," he said, according to
the state Antara news agency.

The United States embassy in Jakarta on Friday issued a
warning to its citizens in Indonesia that an ongoing risk of
attacks in Indonesia was heightened over the Easter period.

"The targets of these attacks could include restaurants,
shopping malls, schools, places of worship, or any other
locations where westerners congregate," it said.

"Reports that Jamaah Islamiyah members were trained in
kidnappings as well as bombings suggest attacks could include
targeting individual American citizens."

Tokyo also urged Japanese visitors to Indonesia "to stay away
from crowded places including shopping malls, discos, cafes and
Western hotels and religious sites which could become targets of
terrorism."