Security tightened ahead of Christmas

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

As Christmas and New Year's Eve approach, Central Java police will beef up security in five cities in areas prone to terrorist attacks, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

In addition to deploying more police in those areas, the police would also keep tabs on the situation via closed-circuit television monitors at big churches in the five cities with significant numbers of Christians. The cities in question are Semarang, Salatiga, Surakarta, Magelang and Banyumas.

The tight security measures will be adopted amid intelligence reports that militant Islamists may be planning terror attacks in the respective cities, said Sr. Comr. Ardi Supardi, the chief of the operations bureau at the Central Java Police headquarters.

Additionally, law enforcement officers have also expressed concerns that Noordin M. Top, a key operative of the Jamaah Islamiyah terror network and accomplice of expert bomb maker Azahari, could be planning to bomb Christian areas in the province. Noordin is still on the loose, but Azahari was shot and killed during a police raid outside of Malang, East Java recently.

As well as stepped up security at churches and other places of worship, extra security will also be provided at malls and tourist destinations.

Police across the nation have reportedly beefed up security this month in response to a series of bomb attacks by terrorists, including simultaneous church bombings, over the past several years.

Ardi, in an apparent attempt to reassure the public by showing that the police had made comprehensive preparations, explained that dozens of body bags had been dispersed to police precincts throughout Java.

Meanwhile, in a hearing with provincial councillors on Wednesday, Ardi also promised to ban all "pornographic performances" during New Year's Eve. The police were condemned by certain groups among the public last year after allegations came to light that one nightclub in the province had held a striptease performance to celebrate the coming of 2005.