US, Australian embassies in Jakarta receive bomb threats
4/11/2008 15:38
The US and Australian embassies in Jakarta received bomb threats today, as
the country is tightening security ahead of imminent execution of three Bali
bombers, police said in Jakarta.
An official at the US embassy confirmed that
it has received the threat.
National police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira
said the threat was received through a telephone text message.
The police
searching the embassies did not found the bombs, said Natraprawira.
"The
message was sent by short messages. We are investigating this," he told
Xinhua.
The threat said that someone has put bombs at the embassies and will
detonate should Amrozi Bali bombers were executed, according to Detik
onlione.
Indonesian police have boosted security at the US and Australian
embassies and other spots in the country, especially vital facilities, amid
fears of reprisal attacks after the execution.
According to the police, the
terrorists have extended their target from the West-linked facilities to the
objects that link with the government interest. The police recently foiled a
terrorist-plot to explode an oil depot in Jakarta.
The Australian embassy was
targeted by suicide bombings in 2004, killing scores of people.
Indonesia,
the most populous Muslim country, had been hit by a series of major terrorist
acts from 2000 to 2005, including the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005, the hotel
explosion in 2003 and the Australian embassy bombing in 2004, killing more than
250 people.
The international militant network of the Jemaah Islamiyah was
widely believed behind the deadly strikes.
Some 87 percent of Indonesia's 240
million population are Muslims, and most of them are moderate and some of the
rest are radical.
Xinhua
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