http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/alert-after-foiled-attack-on-jakarta-church/story-e6frg6so-1226043490868
Alert after foiled attack on Jakarta church Peter Alford, Jakarta Correspondent From: The Australian April 23, 2011 12:00AM AUSTRALIANS have been warned after a bomb plot was uncovered. Indonesian security forces are on high alert and Australia has warned travellers of the "very high threat of terrorist attack" after the foiling of a Good Friday bomb plot against a Catholic church. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered security forces on to the highest level of vigilance over Easter following the discovery of five bombs beside Christ Cathedral at Serpong, West Jakarta. The bombs, containing 150kg of explosives and buried beside a gas pipeline to intensify the destructive effect, were found on Thursday after police rounded up 19 men suspected of a book mail-bombing campaign last month. The bombs were planned to be remotely triggered by a mobile phone yesterday morning. The suspects "were arrested in relation to the book bomb attacks, and it was discovered they were also planning to bomb the church", said Ansyaad M'bai, chief of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT). Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. Related Coverage a.. Terror cameraman in bomb plot Adelaide Now, 4 hours ago b.. Bomb suspect a tv news cameraman Herald Sun, 12 hours ago c.. Indonesia on high alert Courier Mail, 2 days ago d.. Mosque bomber a follower of Bashir The Australian, 3 days ago e.. Jihadists 'going under radar' The Australian, 4 days ago End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. In Canberra, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade reissued advice for Australian travellers "to reconsider your need to travel to Indonesia, including Bali, at this time due to the very high threat of terrorist attack". The advice was originally issued four weeks ago when it was revealed Pakistani security forces had captured the accused 2002 Bali bomber Umar Patek, who is likely to be handed to the Indonesians. Information to Australian authorities indicated terrorist attacks might take place in Indonesia at any time, DFAT said. The US embassy in Jakarta has advised Americans to take special caution over the Easter weekend and avoid street rallies, which "can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence". Even before the bomb discovery, police in Jakarta and other Javanese centres were braced for possible Islamic mob attacks on Christian congregations at Easter. Jakarta police chiefs reportedly assigned 20,000 officers to secure churches and search for bombs. The find at Serpong came a week after the suicide bombing of a police mosque at Cirebon, West Java, intensifying concern Islamic terrorism had entered a new stage. According to the International Crisis Group, this is characterised by small groups hitting local targets -- police and other state "oppressors", Christians and "deviant" Muslims -- operating independently of, but encouraged by, jihadist organisations. The groups were only detected when members were caught, the ICG said, "raising the question of how many similar groups operating under police radar exist that will only come to light when one of their . . . attempts succeeds". General Ansyaad said yesterday that BNPT and Densus 88, the police counter-terrorist unit, were investigating any associations between the suspects in the recent incidents and two jihadist groups, Jemaah Islamiyah and Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid. JI and JAT have dissociated themselves from violent action, although JAT leader Abu Bakar Bashir is on trial charged with planning and funding the al-Qa'ida in Aceh militant training camp. The Cirebon bomber, Muhammad Syarif, has been recognised in a video of a recent JAT demonstration, but police say they have not identified any group involved with him in the mosque attack. Thursday's bomb find prompted an emergency meeting of Dr Yudhoyono's security cabinet. "The President has ordered the military and the police, and all other institutions related to terrorism eradication, to co-ordinate on this," the Co-ordinating Minister for Security and Politics, Djoko Suyanto, said afterwards. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
