Police to keep guarding churches
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Even though two major religious events -- Idul Fitri and Christmas -- have passed off peacefully, the National Police will continue to maintain tight the security at certain churches and other public places nationwide in the run-up to the New Year holiday.
A spokesman for National Police Headquarters, Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis, said that the police would continue to deploy some 200,000 personnel until ten days after the New Year holiday, and that they would be focused on particular churches where New Year's services were being held as well as public places such as entertainment and recreation centers and hotels.
"Of course, we will continue guarding churches as Christians usually hold prayer services on New Year's Eve.
"But we will now pay more attention to those public places where many people will be celebrating the New Year," he told The Jakarta Post.
On Tuesday, Jakarta Police Headquarters issued an order prohibiting people from riding in convoys to celebrate the New Year, as well as from setting off fire crackers.
Violations of the ruling carry sanctions in line with Laws No. 2/2002 and 14/1999 on the National Police and Road Traffic Regulations respectively.
Following a series of bomb blasts that exploded almost simultaneously in or outside churches during Christmas 2000, blasts that have been blamed on Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), Christians have been forced to practice their religion against a backdrop of possible terrorist attacks.
The police enhanced security at churches this Christmas following the series of bomb blasts on Christmas Eve in various cities across the country in 2000 and 2001.
At least 19 people were killed while dozens of others were injured during the attacks on 38 churches and pastors' residences in eleven cities: Jakarta, Bekasi, Bandung, Sukabumi, Ciamis, and Mojokerto, all in Java; Medan, Pematang Siantar and Pekanbaru in Sumatra; Batam; and Mataram on the island of Lombok, east of Bali.
The recent Bali and Makassar bomb blasts that killed nearly 200 people, mostly foreign tourists, and injured hundreds of others, have further heightened the fear of terrorist attacks.
The police blamed the Christmas attacks to JI, a group the leaders of which have been the focus of police action following the Bali bombings. These leaders allegedly include Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir of the Solo-based Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI).
Ba'asyir has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the Christmas Eve blasts and a plot to assassinate President Megawati Soekarnoputri. But thus far, the police have yet to figure out a link between Ba'syir and the Bali attacks.
The police are still investigating a total of 26 people who are suspected of being behind the Makassar and Bali blasts.