U.S. begins evacuating American citizens

U.S. begins evacuating American citizens

JAKARTA (JP): The United States began evacuation procedures
for nonessential embassy staff and its citizens here during the
wee hours of this morning despite Indonesian government
assurances.

Other embassies in Jakarta have prepared contingency plans and
heightened their alert status.

The Indonesian foreign ministry's secretary-general, Abdul
Irsan, tried to reassure foreign embassies yesterday that the
government was doing its utmost to ensure the safety of foreign
citizens.

"It is the responsibility of the government to guarantee their
safety. This should not be doubted."

Irsan said the foreign ministry had asked security forces to
pay special attention to foreigners here.

When asked about foreign embassy contingency plans for
evacuations, Irsan said they were normal procedures given the
recent state of events.

An announcement from the U.S. Embassy here said: "The
Department of State has ordered the departure of all dependents
of U.S. Embassy Jakarta and U.S. Consulate General Surabaya
employees, as well as nonessential employees.

"American citizens in Jakarta and Surabaya should depart the
country as soon as possible ... For American citizens unable to
depart on commercial flights, the U.S. is arranging for chartered
aircraft to fly them from Jakarta to Singapore and Bangkok."

American citizens taking advantage of the chartered flight
were told to gather at 12:30 a.m. this morning at three
locations: the Jakarta International School in Cilandak, South
Jakarta; the Ambassador's residence in Central Jakarta and the
AERA Club in South Jakarta. They were told to bring their
passport and only one bag per passenger.

There are 195 State Department employees in Indonesia with 330
dependents. Altogether, there are an estimated 12,000 Americans
in the country.

Meanwhile in Birmimgham, England, White House spokesman P.J.
Crowley told reporters that more than 10,000 U.S. troops taking
part in exercises off the coast of Thailand would be available if
needed in connection with political and civil unrest in
Indonesia.

Three U.S. amphibious ships, helicopters and 10,600 troops,
including a Marine Corps expeditionary force, will participate in
the Cobra Gold exercise from May 19 to June 1.

Crowley said U.S. forces were not being sent to the area
specifically because of the crisis in Indonesia, but they would
be in the region should they be needed.

A Japanese diplomatic source here said the embassy was on a
level three alert status. Level five is the most hazardous level
and has been used for situations in countries such as Iraq. Level
one is for normal conditions.

"We are not using special flights to transport our nationals.
We recommend those who wish to leave to use JAL, SQ or some other
airline," the source said, adding that if the situation worsened,
the Japanese government could send a plane here to evacuate its
citizens. There are some 13,000 Japanese citizens in Indonesia of
which 10,000 are in Jakarta.

Australia has advised its citizens in Indonesia to leave the
country, except for tourists in Bali.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said: "It's important people
understand that we are advising them that they would be best off
out of Indonesia, not in Indonesia."

Downer said the government had well-developed evacuation plans
in place, with a system of wardens throughout Indonesia assessing
the security situation and keeping in contact with Australian
citizens. There are an estimated 20,000 Australians in Indonesia.

"We're not yet into the evacuation stage," Australian
ambassador to Indonesia John McCarthy told the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said it would increase flights to
help its nationals return from Indonesia and would have
contingency plans ready if evacuation became necessary.

"China Airlines and EVA Air will increase chartered flights
from tomorrow (Saturday) depending on market demand," Vice-
Foreign Minister David Lee told a news conference.

In London, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said steps
would be taken to help the 2,000 Canadians living in Indonesia if
they were forced to leave the troubled country.

"There are 2,000 Canadians living in Indonesia at this moment.
The embassy has been in touch with them, making sure they are
safe. If they have to leave, necessary steps will be taken," he
said.

Sources in Jakarta said that the evacuation process of
Canadians had already begun, however Canadian Embassy officials
in Jakarta could not be contacted for confirmation.

In Wellington, a foreign ministry spokesman said no plans were
currently being made to evacuate New Zealanders in Indonesia.

But at least one business group has begun evacuations. The New
Zealand Dairy Board, an industry body not aligned with the
government, plans to evacuate 11 staff members from Jakarta
because of the violence, spokesman Neville Martin said.

In Seoul, a foreign ministry spokesman said South Korea had no
plans to evacuate its citizens.

"Our embassy in Indonesia has set up a task force to deal with
any contingencies," he said.

The government closed a school for Koreans in Indonesia for at
least two days and recommended Korean companies temporarily
suspend operations, a ministry official said.

Finnish national carrier Finnair sent an aircraft to Jakarta
to pick up Finns and other Nordic citizens fleeing from the
violence-torn Indonesian capital, the airline said yesterday.

A Finnair spokesman a McDonnell Douglas 11 had been rerouted
from its regular service to Singapore at the request of the
Finnish Foreign Ministry.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had no
immediate plans to evacuate its embassy staff in Indonesia but
advised Russians against visiting the country.

"We consider the situation there very tense but not critical
enough to prompt urgent evacuation," foreign ministry spokesman
Valery Nesterushkin said.

Governments of fellow member states of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), are also on high alert.

The Malaysian news agency Bernama said two airforce transport
planes would be sent to Jakarta to bring back Malaysians.

The two planes will arrive at 11 a.m. today, Bernama said.

Around 90 Malaysians had sought refuge at the embassy in
Jakarta and had registered with officials there to return home.
Their numbers were expected to swell as more arrive at the
embassy. Some 2,500 Malaysians live in Jakarta.

A 24-hour operation center has been set up at the Malaysian
Embassy in Jakarta. The telephone number is 522-4947, extension
3107/3112.

Singapore's Foreign Ministry has advised those who do not have
essential business to postpone trips to Indonesia, the country's
state television said yesterday.

A ministry spokesman said those who have to travel to
Indonesia could register themselves with the foreign ministry or
with the Singapore Embassy in Jakarta.

The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said it was
ready to evacuate more than 2,000 Filipinos from Indonesia if
riots escalated further.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. said the
Philippine Embassy was closely monitoring the situation and had
launched contingency plans for the immediate evacuation of all
Filipinos.

In Bangkok, an official said the government had a contingency
plan for evacuating approximately 500 Thais in Indonesia and that
Thai Airways International had been told to be ready to provide
emergency flights if necessary.

"The contingency plan is ready, but we have not yet made a
decision to evacuate Thais from Indonesia," foreign ministry
spokesman Kobsak Chutikul told Reuters. (prb/mds)