U.S., Australia, UK caution on attacks during holidays

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The governments of Australia, Britain and the United States issued new travel advisories for their citizens in Indonesia to be extremely cautious during the upcoming holiday season due to the high possibility of terrorist attacks.

Travel advisories from the embassies in Jakarta warned that their citizens should avoid public places such as churches, restaurants and bars during the holidays.

"With the approach of the Christmas and New Year holidays, the embassy reminds all Americans throughout Indonesia to exercise utmost caution in public places, particularly places of worship and entertainment areas frequented by Westerners," the embassy statement said.

Referring to the Christmas bombing in 2000, the British Embassy in Jakarta highlighted the fact that churches were targeted in the incidents, so British nationals should remain alert.

"It should be noted that in 2000, a series of bombings targeted Christmas celebrations in places of worship," the advisory stated.

The Australian government went further than the other two Western governments, advising its nationals to consider leaving Indonesia ahead of the Christmas celebration.

"Threats against Australians and Australian interests in Indonesia remain high given possible terrorist action and civil disorder, particularly over the Christmas and New Year period," it said.

"Our advice also remains that Australians in Indonesia who are concerned about their security should consider departure," the statement said as quoted by Agence France-Presse.

After the Bali bombing on Oct.12, which killed more than 190 people, the majority of whom were foreigners, many countries issued travel warnings against Indonesia and some evacuated non- essential embassy staff from the country.

The security alert remains high, after several international schools in Jakarta only last month suspended their activities for more than a week, due to the possibility of terrorists attacks.

These warnings continue despite protests from the Indonesian government that such travel advisories would further harm the country's tourism industry, which has suffered a sharp decline after the attacks in Bali.

Although Indonesian police repeatedly guarantee the safety of foreigners, police in South Sulawesi found several bombs near a church in Makassar in recent weeks.

Police have heightened security measures for the Christmas and New Year holidays, and have put churches across the country under maximum security.

Similar steps have been undertaken in the past two years, as the country was traumatized by the Christmas Eve bombings at churches located in 11 major cities, which claimed 19 lives.

Police have said that the suspects in the ongoing investigation of the Bali bombings were also involved in the Christmas Eve 2000 attacks.

Most of the terror suspects were affiliated with Muslim organizations, a consideration that has put churches on a list of high-risk targets for possible retaliatory attacks.

In their advisory, the British Embassy also warned its nationals to be "particularly careful in Bali, Jakarta, Balikpapan, Surabaya and Yogyakarta, and in cultural and tourist locations outside major cities, including Borobudur."

"The arrest of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir and the possible arrest of other extremist leaders could lead to strong reaction from their supporters," the advisory continued, referring to the Muslim cleric who remains under police detention, although his alleged involvement with the Christmas Eve bombings has been neither proved nor disproved.