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)