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| Southeast Asia |
| Australia Warns of Indonesia Terror Plot |
| 2003-03-22 |
| The Australian foreign ministry warned Saturday that terrorist groups may be planning an attack on Westerners in the Indonesian city of Surabaya in coming days. "The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advises that it has credible information that terrorist groups with a history of targeting Westerners and Western interests may be planning terrorist activity on or about 23 March in Surabaya, Indonesia," the ministry said in a statement. The government has warned Australians not to travel to Indonesia since Oct. 12, when bombings on the island of Bali killed more than 200 people, including 89 Australians. But who pays attention to that sort of warning? In the latest bulletin, Australians were warned not to travel to Surabaya and those already there were advised to stay home and exercise extreme caution. They should avoid commercial and public places frequented by foreigners, including clubs, restaurants, bars, hotels, schools, fast food outlets, shopping centers, places of worship, public transport and any buildings associated with foreign interests, the foreign ministry said. The statement noted that Surabaya, on Indonesia's main island of Java, has been the scene of street protests over U.S.-led military attacks in Iraq. Thumping Iraq provides some sort of excuse for Islamist xenophobes to do what Islamist xenophobes do best... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |