Jakarta gets in gear for International relief summit

Jakarta gets in gear for International relief summit

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Manila

Indonesia, the worst-affected country in the Dec. 26 tsunami
disaster, is making preparations for an emergency summit of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders and other
nations to help coordinate relief efforts for the survivors of
the Indian Ocean tsunami tragedy.

The summit will be held in Jakarta on Thursday. It will be the
biggest maiden foreign policy initiative of the 75-day-old
government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said several world and
ASEAN leaders had confirmed their attendance including United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Singapore
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Philippine President Gloria
Arroyo, Brunei Darussalam Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Chinese Prime
Minister Wen Jiabao, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark,
South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi and Australian Prime Minister John Howard have
confirmed they will attend the summit.

Annan will arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday and meet President
Susilo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla. He is also scheduled to
visit some of the hardest hit areas in Aceh on Friday, the United
Nations office in Jakarta said in a press release sent to The
Jakarta Post on Monday.

During the one-day summit, Annan will make a consolidated
appeal for the immediate relief of victims.

Annan will be accompanied by World Bank President James D.
Wolfensohn and other senior UN officials during the four-day
visit to Indonesia.

Another high-profile visitor to Indonesia will be U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Powell, who is already in Thailand, will arrive in Jakarta on
Tuesday on a three-day visit, but it is unclear whether he will
be at the summit or not, but he is slated to visit Aceh along
with the U.S. special envoy Jeb Bush.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police are preparing 14,000 personnel, or
two-thirds of its total force, to provide security for a
conference of 21 countries from Asia, Europe and America to
discuss relief operations for nations affected by the Asian
tsunami on Jan. 6.

City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Monday that
police officers from 14 units, including air police, detectives,
and mobile brigade, would be deployed to clear critical points
beginning Jan. 4.

"We will secure the routes all leaders will take when they
arrive and when they go home. We will also secure the Soekarno-
Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma airports as well as the Jakarta
Convention Center, where the conference will be held," Firman
told reporters on the sidelines of preparatory meeting for the
event.

He said Jakarta would be on full alert during the conference
as police still fear that terrorists would see the event as an
opportunity to launch a bomb attack.

"We realize that the conference will be seen by terrorists as
a key occasion to launch an attack as the international community
will be focused on the conference. Besides, we also have to
prepared in case of demonstrations," said Firman.

The European Union Delegation of the European Commission to
Indonesia said in Jakarta on Monday that the European
Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Assistance Louis
Michel would arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Michel will travel to Aceh on Wednesday and attend the
emergency summit on Thursday.