Police view foreign intel as warning
P.C. Naommy, Jakarta
Police said Friday the recent media reports citing Western security agencies, which warn of "credible" terrorism threats in the country targeting diplomats, only confirmed their suspicions.
"We heard about the news, and even though we already had our own analysis on the same concern, we'll regard the information as a warning to prepare for any unwanted situations," said National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.
In the latest edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review, the magazine reported that the threats were revealed by information from British and Australian intelligence organizations on a new pattern of terrorism attacks conducted by Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda.
The intelligence reports apparently had information indicating that JI had changed its strategy; from car bombs to targeted assassinations of Western VIPs -- specifically diplomats from Britain, Australia and the United States.
They also warned that the potential targets of JI assassins could be widened to include foreign business executives and/or Indonesian public figures.
There have also been reports that several extremists had arrived in this country through East Kalimantan after passing through Mindanao, the Philippines in recent weeks.
"We have a lot of remote border areas ... such as those with the southern Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore, and most of them are hard to monitor," explained Da'i.
When asked what he knew about the arrival of the JI assassins, Da'i said that none of them had been found, and that the police would continue to monitor the situation.
Da'i did mention, however, that police had arrested an Indonesian dentist responsible for sending short message service (SMS) threats to expatriate executives working at the Canadian- operated nickel mine in Soroako, South Sulawesi. In the messages, he claimed to be a JI member.
Da'i said that it turned out that the man was not a JI member, but a dentist at the company's medical facility who was apparently afraid he would lose his job to a foreigner.
Aside from precautionary measures, Da'i said the police were currently seeking the key suspects, also alleged to be top JI operatives, behind the August 2003 J.W. Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta.
Marty A. Natalegawa, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the renewed terrorist warnings would only damage Indonesia's global image further.
"The reports, once again, which are not backed by solid evidence or factual information, attempt to create the impression that Indonesia is not a secure country," Marty said during his weekly press conference on Friday.
He did not elaborate, however.
Australia, meanwhile, is taking the reports seriously.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said during his current two- day visit to Malaysia that Australia would not be cowed by the threats of "fanatics".
"We know that JI targets Australia and Australians and we take every precaution, (including) cooperation with the Indonesian Police and Army," he said after a visit to the new Southeast Asian Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism.
Most of the 202 fatalities in the Bali car bombing of October 2002 were Australians.