Skip to main content

Australia Warns of More Terrorist Attacks in Indonesia





By Phil Mercer
Sydney
20 July 2009

Australia has upgraded its travel advisory to Indonesia after the fatal hotel bombings in Jakarta. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra warns Australians to reconsider their need to travel to Indonesia because of the possibility of further terrorist attacks.

Forensic investigators examine the ruins at the site of the bomb blast at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, 18 Jul 2009
Forensic investigators examine the ruins at the site of the bomb blast at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, 18 Jul 2009
The explosions at Jakarta's Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels killed nine people, including three Australians and a New Zealander.

The attacks have prompted the Australian government to warn its citizens to think twice before traveling to Indonesia.

The upgraded travel advisory warns that further acts of terrorism are possible.

In Canberra, officials say that Bali, a resort island popular with Australian tourists, remains vulnerable to attack.

David Mackney, a security expert in Jakarta, says Indonesia has responded quickly to this new threat.







"Security has been beefed up at the big hotels and also in the shopping malls," Mackney said. "I know that the police in Bali for instance have reported that they've gone on a higher alert and there is extra security at Bali airport and all the main tourist spots in Bali."

Security has been tightened across Indonesia, with 500 troops put on standby to support police in the capital, Jakarta.

No arrests have yet been made but investigators think the suicide bombings were part of a sophisticated plot.

Suspicion has fallen on fugitive Malaysian militant Noordin Mohammed Top. He is suspected of involvement in a series of attacks, including the twin blasts that killed more than 200 people died on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali in 2002.

Noordin is thought to have been a key figure in Jemaah Islamiah, a militant Islamic organization, but is now believed to lead a splinter group.

Relatives of the Australians killed in Friday's blasts have traveled to Indonesia to claim their bodies as the investigation continues.






Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Iranian Clerics Protest Election Results

By VOA News 05 July 2009 A group of leading Iranian clerics has criticized the results of the country's disputed presidential election. In a statement released Sunday, clerics from the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qom said Iran's official electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, failed to adequately investigate claims of vote rigging by the opposition. The pro-reform group questioned whether the Council's validation is enough to legitimize the vote. Last week, the 12-member Council upheld the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I ranian reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi during a press conference after polls closed in Tehran, 12 June 2009 Defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has criticized the outcome. In a 24-page report posted to his Web site Saturday, Mr. Mousavi accuses supporters of Mr. Ahmadinejad of handing out cash to voters in the run-up to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Military chief promotes 35 generals

Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Djoko Santoso has promoted 35 generals, consisting of 16 army generals, 11 navy admirals and 8 air force marshals. “It is expected that this time promotion will further enhance and improve the military performance so that we could give out the best output,” he said on Friday. Among those generals who receive the promotion is Rear Adm. Gunadi who is now posted as inspector general at the Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Langgeng Sulistyono, who is now posted as Diponegoro Military Commander and Rear Marshal Agus Dwi Putranto, who is installed as Abdulrahman Saleh Air Force Base Commander.
Post a Comment
Read more

Chinese

Identifying someone in Indonesia as a member of the Chinese ( orang Tionghoa ) ethnic group is not an easy matter, because physical characteristics, language, name, geographical location, and life-style of Chinese Indonesians are not always distinct from those of the rest of the population. Census figures do not record Chinese as a special group, and there are no simple racial criteria for membership in this group. There are some people who are considered Chinese by themselves and others, despite generations of intermarriage with the local population, resulting in offspring who are less than one-quarter Chinese in ancestry. On the other hand, there are some people who by ancestry could be considered halfChinese or more, but who regard themselves as fully Indonesian. Furthermore, many people who identify themselves as Chinese Indonesians cannot read or write the Chinese language. Alth...
Post a Comment
Read more