Tighter security at U.S. embassy called for

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Vice President Hamzah Haz ordered the National Police on Thursday to increase security around the American embassy and its consulate in Surabaya, responding to the U.S. decision to shut down both establishments on account of security threats.

"The Vice President has instructed National Police Headquarters to tighten security and increase the number of police personal (at the U.S. embassy)," a senior Hamzah aide, Laode Kamaluddin, was quoted as saying by Antara following a meeting between the Vice President and U.S. Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce.

Boyce met Hamzah to clarify his decision to close down the embassy and the consulate, and later said that the meeting went well and that both sides understood the problems they were facing.

But as the embassy closure entered its third day, Boyce told reporters on Thursday he could not say when it would reopen.

The sudden closure has, however, raised eyebrows here with officials saying the U.S. failed to consult with them about the alleged terrorist threats.

Hamzah criticized the move as implying Indonesia was unsafe for diplomats.

Following the closure on Tuesday, police have cordoned off the embassy compound, although this would seem to have more to do with nearby demonstrations protesting the reelection of Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso.

City Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said that at present one unit of 12 police officers was stationed at the embassy. "We'll keep our men there until they (the U.S.) are satisfied."

The closure of the U.S. embassy and the consulate has renewed concerns about the presence of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Indonesia, although similar allegations in the past were not backed up by strong enough evidence, in the opinion of the Indonesian authorities, to prompt arrests.

Ambassador Boyce has said the closure was the result of credible information about a terrorist threat. However, he did not give details of the threat his embassy had received. National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said he was told by U.S. officials that the threat had originated from outside of Indonesia.

A New York Times article reprinted in the International Herald Tribune daily on Thursday reported that U.S. officials had obtained information about threats against several of its embassies from Omar Faruq, an alleged al-Qaeda operative they interrogated.

Faruq was picked up in Central Java, Indonesia, and quietly turned over to the U.S. "He has proved reliable in the past," said a U.S. official as quoted by the Times.

Based on the information Faruq provided, which was corroborated by another source, a mid-level al-Qaeda operative, the U.S. moved to shut down embassies across Southeast Asia, fearing more attacks on Sept 11.

Faruq is an Arab and described as an al-Qaeda operations chief in Southeast Asia, Associated Press reported.

But National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf denied the reports. "There has never been a person by the name Faruq or anybody else arrested and turned over (to the U.S.)."

Indonesian analysts have, not surprisingly, downplayed fears of the Al-Qaeda network operating in Indonesia, though they warn that radical groups here could become a terrorist threat.

Some have pointed to the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) and Laskar Jihad as possibly having links to Al-Qaeda, although no evidence have been found to support this claim, say Indonesian officials.

MMI member Abu Bakar Bashir is believed to be the founder of Jemaah Islamiah -- a group Malaysia and Singapore suspect of being behind a number of planned terrorist strikes.

Now, the U.S. administration is preparing to put Jemaah Islamiah and Bashir on its list of terrorist organizations and suspects, a move U.S. officials say could create diplomatic tensions with Indonesia, according to the Times' article.