Security tightened one day before summit
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Security was tightened across the city on Thursday, one day before the Asian-African Summit, to anticipate possible terrorist attacks on the meeting, police say.
The Jakarta Police, the Indonesian Military, and the city administration have deployed more 24,000 officers, soldiers and security guards to keep Jakarta safe during the conference.
Security was especially tight around the conference venue, the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), and the Hilton and Mulia hotels where most of the delegates are staying.
In several places across the capital, police officers were seen stopping and checking vehicles that intended to enter Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta, and Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta, where the JCC and Hilton are located.
On the eastern side of Jakarta, police in Manggarai stopped and searched cars from East Jakarta traveling to Sudirman or Thamrin. On the southern side, they checked vehicles in Cawang and Pancoran.
This increased security has led to tensions with local motorists, with one complaining that police were too strict and impolite.
"They even told us to open our small bags where it would be impossible to hide a bomb or a firearm. They should at least have excused themselves and introduced themselves nicely first before searching us," the irritated driver told The Jakarta Post.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said police could not take any risks and had to make sure Jakarta was secured from all threats, including bomb attacks and sniper assassination attempts.
"That's why we are being very careful. We are sorry if we may have made residents feel uncomfortable with our security measures. But we are pursuing this line of action to ensure our state guests are safe," Tjiptono said.
He said as of Thursday, police had found no evidence of any serious plans to endanger the summit.
As of Thursday, police had arrested more than 100 people for weapons offenses, including the possession of firearms, swords and other sharp-edged weapons, as well as the less-dangerous offenses of possessing pirated and adult VCDs and narcotics. They had also confiscated 93 motorcycles and five cars whose drivers lacked the proper documents.
Police had readied more than 180 bomb squad officers and dozens of detectives around and inside the JCC, Hilton and Mulia hotels, where most of the delegates were staying, he said.
Further out of the city, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani has ordered his officers to intensively check outlying areas, including Bekasi, Tangerang, Depok, and Bogor, to prevent people that could endanger the conference from entering the capital.
Tjiptono called on residents to be careful of strangers that visited their neighborhoods. Two key people behind the JW Marriott Hotel and Australian Embassy blasts, Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Moh. Top, were still at large conduct another attack at any time, he said.
"Landlords should check identities of their new tenants as Azahari and Noordin are out there, and could become anyone's tenants. Hotel, mall, and supermarket owners must also stay on full alert," he said.
Azahari and Noordin, both Malaysian fugitives, were believed to have helped plan the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, and masterminded the JW Marriott Hotel attack, which claimed 12 lives, along with the recent bombing outside the Australian Embassy that killed 11 people.
The increased security also impacted on Jakarta residents' freedom of speech. A planned demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta by the Indonesia Farmers Federation, the Anti-Debt Coalition, and the Jakarta Workers Association was broken up shortly after it began by police.
The Post observed that traffic conditions were normal-to-light in the central city on Thursday.
The administration's decision to give students a holiday on Thursday and the approaching long weekend for the Prophet Muhammad's birthday on Friday are likely to have contributed to the light traffic situation.