Posted on 06/10/2004 12:38:43 PM PDT by knighthawk
AN assassination squad of Jemaah Islamiah terrorists is believed to have slipped into Indonesia to target Australian diplomats, businesspeople and other Westerners.
The move by JI, the group responsible for the Bali bombings, may signal a dramatic shift from general bombings to assassinations.
A group of operatives, trained to carry out assassinations, has arrived in Indonesian in recent weeks through East Kalimantan province from Mindanao in the southern Philippines, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
At the top of their target list are the Australian, American and British ambassadors, as well as other senior officials from those embassies.
Australian and other Western businesspeople are also believed to be targets, especially in the mining and energy industries.
The strategy is similar to that used by al-Qa'ida in Saudi Arabia, where terror attacks on Westerners are aimed at crippling the economy and sparking an exodus of foreign workers.
Senior government sources have told The Australian that the report is being taken seriously by Australian authorities.
Expatriates in Indonesia say they have not been warned of a specific threat but that the US, British and Australian embassies have been holding a series of "town hall" meetings to repeat security warnings.
British and Australian intelligence organisations have "specific and credible" information that a JI assassination squad has entered the country. It is feared that the terrorists may seek to target Australians and other Westerners as they travel to and from work.
The Australian, US and British embassies are reportedly now insisting that embassy staff vary their travel routes to and from work, and also their arrival and departure times.
"If the target is an important figure, then it would be just as effective as a bomb," Ansyaad M'bia, head of the counter-terrorism desk at Indonesia's Ministry of Political and Security Affairs, was quoted as saying.
"We know they are well trained and have Afghan backgrounds, so it is clear they have the capacity (for) carrying out such an attack."
An Australian embassy spokeswoman said it was aware of a range of threats to Western interests in Indonesia and the official travel advisory continued to recommend that Australians avoid non-essential travel.
"The embassy reviews the security situation in Indonesia on a regular basis to ensure the embassy's security measures are appropriate," she said.
British ambassador Charles Humfrey said: "British ambassadors in countries where there have been terrorist attacks are considered to be at risk.
"We have to remind people that terrorism can come in different forms.
"We've seen that from Saudi Arabia," he was quoted as saying in the Journal.
DFAT continues to warn Australians to defer all non-essential travel to Indonesia, including Bali.
It advises those in the country who are concerned for their security to leave and those who remain to exercise extreme caution in commercial and public places.
JI has staged a series of bloody bombings in Indonesia in recent years, including the suicide bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta 10 months ago.
The attack killed 11 Indonesians and one Dutchman.
In October 2002, JI masterminded the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said last night that the "Government was aware of a range of threats to Western interests and targets in Indonesia".
"Security at our embassies and overseas posts is reviewed regularly and our travel advisories updated accordingly," the spokesman said.
"But we are not going down the path of confirming specific threats."
Ping
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