Australia warns of militant attacks in Indonesia by year's end
SYDNEY (AFP): Australia has warned it has information that extremists may be planning attacks in Indonesia within the next two months in a new official travel advisory.
The foreign affairs department reissued its Indonesian travel advisory late Friday to insert the line: "Recent new information suggests that terrorists may be planning attacks to occur before the end of 2005".
The advisory repeated Canberra's stance taken in the wake of the October 2002 Bali bombings that Australians should defer non-essential travel to Indonesia.
"Attacks could occur at any time, anywhere in Indonesia and could be directed at any locations known to be frequented by foreigners," it said.
The advisory dropped a warning to avoid Bali's upmarket Seminyak area that was inserted after the Oct. 1 attack when three suicide bombers blew themselves up at the resort island's Kuta and Jimbaran tourist districts killing 20 people.
The advisory warns Australians against gathering in hotels, shopping centers, restaurants, bars and other areas popular with Westerners.
"We continue to receive a stream of credible reporting suggesting that terrorists are in the advanced stages of planning attacks against Western interests in Indonesia," it said.
Eighty eight Australians were among the 202 people killed in the 2002 Bali bombings and four Australians died in last month's attack. The Australian embassy in Jakarta was also targeted by bombers in September last year.
"The possibility of another attack against Australians cannot be ruled out," the advisory said. (**)
