National

Indonesian Government Regrets Australian Warnings of Terror Threats
Saturday, 18 December, 2004 | 11:14 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Indonesian government has said it regrets the stance of the Australian government, which failed to inform the Indonesian government regarding new terror threats in Indonesia.

According to Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa, the Indonesian government hopes that any such information is based on clear and accurate facts.

“The Australian government should have shared the information they have received so that we can take preventative measures,” Natalegawa told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday (16/12).

As reported earlier, the Australian government stated that it had received specific reports from its intelligence agencies saying that terrorists were preparing new attacks in Indonesia.

Australian foreign and trade ministries had explicitly said that the new target of this possible attack was the Hilton Hotel.

Natalegawa stated that the Indonesian government did not consider the travel warning made by Australian government on its citizens who planned to travel to Indonesia as a problem.

However, he said, the Australian government should have informed Indonesia first about this matter.

According to Natalegawa, the decision made by the Australian government, as well as the British and New Zealand governments, which directly announced this information to the public, would only create panic.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie also called for the US and Australian governments, as the partner countries of Indonesia, to “help Indonesia in fighting terrorism by not issuing any travel warnings.”

Bakrie said that by issuing travel warnings, it would mean that these countries have followed the wish of the terrorists and helped their acts.

According to Bakrie, other countries can help Indonesia by helping the efforts to arrest terrorists or help improve the economic situation in Indonesia.

Following the travel warnings issued by the Australian, British and New Zealand governments, the US Embassy in Indonesia also warned its citizens that Indonesia had potential risk for terrorism during the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

The US Embassy stated that some “extremists” might be planning to launch terror attacks at the end of this year.

“The attacks might take place at any time, at any place, including places visited by foreigners and other US and western countries’ facilities in Indonesia,” stated by the US Embassy. (Evy Flamboyan/Ramidi/Amal Ihsan-Koran Tempo)