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Canada, U.S. warn citizens of possible attacks on hotels in Indonesian capital

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Canada and the United States on Friday warned its citizens living in Indonesia that terrorists were planning to bomb hotels and other locations frequented by foreigners in the capital, while the police chief also cautioned that fresh attacks were likely.

In an update to its travel report, Foreign Affairs Canada also advised citizens not to travel to Indonesia, especially the west coast of northern Sumatra, including Aceh province and offshore islands, and to exercise caution in commercial and public establishments and tourist areas, some of which have been targets in the past.

Canadians still in the area were advised to leave immediately and tell the Canadian Embassy in Jakarta of their departure. Recent reports indicate that terrorists were planning attacks against foreigners in Aceh and other parts of northern Sumatra, the department said.

Australia also has warned its citizens to avoid travelling to Indonesia.

The warnings were the latest in a flurry of security advisories underlining the continuing threat of terrorism in the world's most populous Muslim country, which has suffered three major attacks by al-Qaida-linked militants since 2002.

In its message to American citizens in Indonesia, the U.S. Embassy said it had "learned that as of June 1, 2005, there were plans by extremists to conduct bomb attacks targeting the lobbies of hotels frequented by Westerners in Jakarta. The attacks were to occur circa noon on an unspecified date."

It included no more details, but it follows an unspecified security threat that forced Washington to close its diplomatic facilities in Indonesia last week for four days.

Separately, National Police chief Gen. Dai Bachtiar said that terrorists' "activities were increasing."

"According to our observations, their communications show they are intensively planning to launch more attacks," he told reporters without elaborating.

Militants belonging to the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group have been blamed for three attacks on western targets in Indonesia in the last three years: the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, in which two Canadians were killed; the 2003 bombing of the J. W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta; and last year's attack at the Australian Embassy. All the attacks resulted in deaths and injuries.

After the Bali bombings, some foreign governments faced domestic criticism for not sharing information that militants may have been planning attacks.

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