Police to guard over 640 churches at Christmas time

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As they have for the past three years, police will provide additional security for the 647 churches and Christian places of worship across Greater Jakarta during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Jakarta Police chief of operations Sr. Comr. Komang Udayana said the police would deploy some 18,000 of its 24,000 officers to provide security during Christmas and New Year's services.

"We have identified 647 churches used for Christmas and New Year's services. We will deploy our officers a week before Christmas until several days after the New Year," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Komang said the number of officers deployed at each of the churches and places of worship would depend on the size of the congregations and the churches' own security arrangements.

Police have identified 96 churches in Central Jakarta, 108 churches in West Jakarta, 81 in East Jakarta, 104 in South Jakarta, 34 in North Jakarta, 55 in Tangerang, 76 in Bekasi and 93 in Depok.

The head of general crimes at the Jakarta Police, Sr. Comr. Moh. Jaelani, said all units, including the intelligence division, the detectives unit, the bomb squad and the mobile brigade, would be involved in the security operation.

"We will not relax our security measures until after the New Year. Even though Malaysian bombmaker Azahari bin Husin was killed recently, his accomplice Noordin M. Top still has many recruits who could launch attacks anywhere in Indonesia, especially Jakarta, during the year-end celebrations," he told the Post.

Azahari and Noordin M. Top are suspected of masterminding several major attacks on western targets in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali blasts that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. They are also believed to have played a role in the Oct. 1 Bali bombings that killed 23 people, including the three suicide bombers.

Suspected members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah bombed 11 churches across the country on Christmas Eve in 2000, killing 19 people.

The police killed Azahari during a raid in Batu, West Java, last month but are still searching for Noordin after he managed to evade arrest during a separate raid.

A document found during the raid on Noordin's hideout indicated terrorists were planning attacks on several locations in Jakarta.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani stressed that special antiterror task force Detachment 88 had information that terrorists were targeting the capital.

National Intelligence Agency head Syamsir Siregar warned on Wednesday there were indications terrorists were planning attacks over the Christmas and New Year's holidays in large cities across the country, including Jakarta.