Police guarantee safety of U.S. missions in RI

Police guarantee safety of U.S. missions in RI

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian police said on Friday that they could guarantee the
safety of U.S. assets across the country, but would not be
dictated to about how to do their jobs.

Speaking after a meeting with Vice President Hamzah Haz,
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar regretted the closure of
the U.S.'s diplomatic missions in Jakarta and Surabaya, saying
this reflected the American government's distrust of the police's
ability to maintain security in the country.

"We guarantee their safety. We accept that responsibility.
But, we refuse to be dictated to about how we perform our
duties," Da'i said.

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and consulate in Surabaya have
been closed since Tuesday due to "specific terrorist threats".

The move startled Indonesian officials. Even President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is still on a 15-day overseas trip,
said in Cairo that the closures should never have occurred.

"Indonesia as a host treats its guests well and takes good
care of them," she said as quoted by AFP on Thursday in Egypt,
where she is on a three-day visit.

Hamzah, after meeting U.S. Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce, ordered
the police on Thursday to increase security around U.S. missions.

Apparently offended by the order, Da'i during the press
conference repeatedly said that no threat had been detected
against the U.S. missions and so far there had been no U.S.
communication with the police regarding the matter.

"We know what is going on in the field. We take full
responsibility. So, let us handle the security issue," Da'i said.

He added that the National Police would increase security at
U.S. missions, but refused to disclose the number of police
reinforcements that would be drafted in.

The New York Times reported that the information concerning a
threat had been obtained from Omar Faruq, an Al-Qaeda operative
arrested in East Java by the Indonesian authorities. Da'i,
however, claimed the police had never heard about the reported
arrest nor the information supplied.

When asked whether it was the police who arrested and deported
Faruq, he said:"The police never do that."

Just outside the U.S. Embassy on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan on
Friday, fully armed police officers were seen standing by every
10 meters around the compound.

There has been no official confirmation of when the embassy
will reopen, but a spokesman for the embassy told The Jakarta
Post that this might happen as early as Monday.

Meanwhile, dozens of Islamic Youth Defenders Movement
activists rallied in front of the U.S. Embassy after Friday
prayers to protest Washington's plans to attack Iraq.

They burned an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush and the
U.S. flag. No arrests were made even though such acts are
forbidden under Indonesian law.