| Submit your comments on this article |
| Southeast Asia |
| JI planning to avenge Azahari |
| 2005-12-24 |
| Indonesia deployed thousands of troops to guard churches and places where foreigners gather Friday amid warnings that al-Qaida-linked militants were planning Christmas terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Maj. Gen. Firman Gani, the Jakarta police chief, said Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists might use the holidays to retaliate for the death last month of bomb-making expert Azahari bin Husin, who was gunned down in a police raid. Azahari's shadowy network is blamed for at least five suicide bombings targeting Western interests since 2002 - including the Oct. 1 restaurant attacks on Bali island - that together killed more than 240 people. It also is accused of Christmas Eve church bombings five years ago that left 19 dead. ''The terrorists have said they will use the momentum of Christmas and the New Year celebrations to carry out attacks,'' Gani told reporters. ''They may not use a car bomb or explosives in bags anymore,'' he cautioned. ''They could be carrying small bombs that can be thrown at a building or into a crowd.'' Gani said security was being bolstered at international hotels, shopping malls and around the main business and embassy districts in the capital, Jakarta, as well as at beaches and other places frequented by tourists in Bali. Foreign governments were not taking any chances either. The United States, Australia, Britain, Canada and Denmark warned their citizens that the terrorist threat was very high, and advised against unnecessary travel to Indonesia. Despite the threats, many Christians said they would attend midnight mass and other celebrations. ''I will be going to the church near my mother's house, where I have been since I was a child,'' said Trade Minister Mari Pangestu. ''Security will be very tight,'' she said, noting that 17,000 police officers were being deployed in Jakarta alone. Thousands more will be deployed in Bali and elsewhere in the nation. Even more significant, Pangestu said, was an offer by 11 different Muslim-based organizations to deploy 7,000 guards at churches and other houses of worship. Muslim groups have helped guard churches every year since the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Be safe Ken. |
| Posted by: 49 pan 2005-12-24 15:34 |