More police deployed around embassies after bomb threats

Abdul Khalik/Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The country's chief of police announced that his officers were on high alert and extra personnel had been deployed to guard strategic locations, including embassies, hotels and Western interests in Jakarta following a bomb threat targeting the British and Thai embassies on Thursday night.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that he had ordered his officers to increase security in both embassies after receiving a cellular phone message (SMS) with a threat to bomb those embassies.

"We have also been working to prevent such bomb threats by pursuing two dangerous fugitives, Noordin Mohd. Top and Dr. Azahari, so that they will feel threatened and they won't be able to schedule another bomb attack," Da'i assured the public.

Azahari and Noordin, both Malaysians, were believed to have been the main bomb designers in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, the JW Marriott Hotel attack, which claimed 12 lives and the 2003 bombing outside the Australian Embassy that killed 10 people.

Da'i said the police were still investigating the source of the SMS, and whether the sender was related to the two fugitives or not.

However, Da'i explained that the SMS was probably a decoy and the sender would likely bomb another location.

"Therefore, we will increase security not only in those two places but also in other strategic places," he said.

The threat was received by the city police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Bagus Eko Danto at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday without mentioning the identity of the sender.

The message said that within a 12-hour period both the British and Thai embassies would be blown up.

The City Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said that upon receiving the message they quickly searched the two embassies but found nothing after three hours of thorough checking.

At 10:45 p.m., the police declared the two embassies secure, he said.

"Although we have not found a bomb in either place, we will go on higher alert and deploy more personnel to the embassies and other places that we believe are targets, including hotels across the capital," he said without giving details on the number of personnel deployed.

In the last several years, Jakarta has been hit by several bomb attacks.

Meanwhile, the British embassy, located in Menteng, Central Jakarta, was closed on Friday morning as a precautionary measure to protect its employees and guests.

The embassy's press officer Faye Belnis said services at the embassy would be suspended indefinitely, while officials continue to review the security situation in the capital.

"Starting today we suspend all activities at the embassy, including those in the British Embassy's building and those in the British Consulate General offices in the Deutsche Bank building, to protect staff and visitors. We believe that their safety is paramount," Faye told The Jakarta Post.

However, the embassy's foreign office travel website said that the closure would not have a detrimental effect on the relief operations in Aceh following the tsunami on Dec. 26.

The website also warned that the threat of terrorism remains high in Indonesia.

"We continue to receive reports that terrorists in Indonesia are planning further attacks on Westerners. The attacks could occur at any time, anywhere in Indonesia and are likely to be directed against locations frequented by foreigners," it said.