Tight Security as Asia Kicks Off Holiday Season (Christians on Alert)

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Christians in Asia were on their guard and locals and Western expatriates were wary as the Christmas holiday season kicked off Tuesday amid new fears of attacks by Islamic radicals.

Britain warned its citizens to avoid churches in Indonesia, security forces were on heightened alert in Australia and in Hong Kong, police set up more barricades outside nightspots in Singapore and shoppers in the Philippines were frisked for explosives.

With memories of the October Bali bombings and the almost 200 fatalities still fresh across the region, authorities made it clear they would be taking no chances over the Christmas and New Year period.

Indonesia, which is also hoping to avoid a repeat of a series of Christmas Eve bombings two years ago that killed 19 people, has deployed 200,000 police over the holiday season to protect churches and other popular public spaces.

But Britain warned again of terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation, telling its citizens to avoid places of worship there. Local Christians, who make up some 10 percent of the 210 million population, also said they would be wary.

"We have heard that this Christmas Eve, churches will be turned into firecrackers," said Father Yoakim Ndelo of the Sacred Family church in a Jakarta suburb, adding the warning had came from a church member whom he declined to identify.

Like ministers of other churches, Ndelo plans to install a metal detector to check worshippers before they enter. But he said no members had said they would not attend services, despite the security fears.

Britain's Foreign Office, citing "recent information received concerning Jakarta," said on its Web Site that its citizens should exercise "extreme caution" in all public places.

The warning was echoed in Canberra, where Australia's foreign affairs department re-issued an alert, saying past bombings timed to coincide with Christmas suggested Australians ought to keep away from Indonesia.

"People have to be particularly careful over the Christmas and New Year period in Indonesia," Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said this week, stressing his ministry had not upgraded its security advisory for Indonesia.

In the Philippines, Asia's largest Catholic nation but vulnerable to attacks by Islamic militants and leftwing rebels, people said they were beginning to take the security frisks outside shopping malls and other precautions in stride.

"I don't think it's really that big a deal," Alexandra Faustman, a marketing manager, said as she took a break from shopping with friends at a busy cafe. "Living here all my life, I'm used to it -- security guards checking your bags and the sniffing dogs."

In Singapore, where security has been air-tight since last year's September 11 attacks on the United States, police erected new barricades last week at a popular outdoor eating center that attracts large crowds.

Soldiers will remain on guard at Changi international airport, a major regional hub, over the holidays.

"Police will continue with this deployment of resources in this festive season to ensure security," said police assistant superintendent Ang Poon Seng.

Bunting, decorative lights and Christmas trees studded the island nation's popular shopping districts as usual and crowds flocked to its malls, but retailers said there would have been more if there were no fears of attacks.

"We don't feel the threat at all and I think all this security is going a bit overboard," said Chris Teo, manager of a restaurant in the upmarket Holland Village where police have cordoned off a street popular with Westerners.

"If people are scared because of terrorists, then you make them more scared like this," said a 41-year-old man who gave his name only as Tan. "I think any place in Singapore can be targeted. Are we going to put up road blocks everywhere?"

In Australia, despite fears of an attack on home soil and earlier government warnings to be on guard, security precautions were not overt.

But landmarks such as the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House have been patrolled for several weeks by security guards, and dustbins have been removed from some public venues, such as train stations and the underground.

And in China's bustling capitalist enclave of Hong Kong, police were keeping a close eye on Christmas festivities.

"Police will deploy sufficient manpower to manage crowd control and take other precautions to ensure security in all places where people are expected to gather," said a Hong Kong police spokeswoman.

Could you even IMAGINE the outcry and demands for swift retribution if the situation were reversed?

I'm of a mind that many people worldwide are tacitly agreeing with the Islamic terror and death cultists. They admire evildoers; they hate Christianity because it tells them that there are RIGHT and WRONG, and that they are EVILDOERS THEMSELVES.

Sides are being chosen; teams are being arranged for the BIG GAME. If this contigency plan doesn't pan out, the devil will have another one ready to trigger.

The outcome is already known; the losing side will gain nothing but their own damnation.

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