SBY orders security tightened for holidays
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Palu
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered authorities on Monday to tighten security ahead of the Christmas and New Year's holidays following attacks on two churches in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu.
"There should be extra security measures for the Christmas and New Year's celebrations. Intelligence operations will be conducted to prevent further disturbances," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S. said after meeting with the President.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar also attended the meeting.
Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said the President had summoned the two top security officials to hear their reports on the latest developments in Palu, where five people were injured in attacks on the Immanuel Church and Anugerah Church on Sunday evening.
"The President ordered the police to increase their presence in potential hot spots like Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Makassar, and to arrest the perpetrators of the attacks in Palu as soon as possible," Sudi said.
Indonesia was rocked by a string of bomb attacks on churches on Christmas Eve four years ago. The attacks left 19 people dead and about 100 others injured.
The church bombings preceded a series of blasts targeting foreign interests in Bali on Oct. 12, 2002, the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on Aug. 5, 2003, and the Australian Embassy in South Jakarta on Sept. 9, 2004. The Jamaah Islamiyah regional terror group has been blamed for the bombings.
The church attacks in Palu are the latest in a series of attacks there, including the murder in April of Ferry Silalahi, a prosecutor handling terrorism cases, and the shooting death in July of a woman minister, Susianti Tinulele.
Da'i said the police were prepared to provide security during the Christmas and New Year's festivities. However, Sudi said the President suggested that the police deploy more personnel and increase patrols to prevent attacks in other parts of the country.
Palu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Noman Siswandi was dismissed on Monday for failing to prevent the church attacks on Sunday, which took place almost simultaneously.
"He (Siswandi) did not carry out orders to station extra personnel at houses of worship. He should have provided better protection for churches," Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi said.
Aryanto installed Adj. Sr. Comr. Guntur Widodo as his replacement.
Siswandi was transferred to Central Sulawesi Police Headquarters without a position.
Aryanto said Siswandi was removed from his post for failing to prevent the church attacks on Sunday, as well as for his failure to stop or solve earlier attacks.
None of the killers of Ferry or Susianti have been captured, and a team set up by Siswandi made several wrong arrests.
Aryanto said the police had received descriptions of the bombers of Immanuel Church on Jl. Masjid Raya in South Palu after questioning about 15 witnesses.
The perpetrators had dark complexions and were riding a Yamaha F1ZR motorcycle, Aryanto said, adding that before throwing a bomb at the church the attackers opened fire on a 60-year-old security guard, Binti Jaya.
Four men carrying M-16 guns attacked Anugerah Church on Jl. Tanjung Manimbaya, some 800 meters south of Immanuel Church, Aryanto said.
"They were riding a Yamaha RX King motorcycle with license plate number DN 5334 AF," he said.
He said he believed the attackers were linked to the earlier murders of Susianti and Ferry.