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Attacks Planned on President, Officials, State guests
May 14, 2010
Olivia Rondonuwu & Telly Nathalia
Indonesian militants captured in recent police raids were planning a series of attacks including a Mumbai-style hotel siege targeting foreigners and an assault on the president at an independence ceremony, police said on Friday.
Police have arrested and killed several suspected jihadists during a series of raids across the country since February when they discovered a militant training camp in the Sumatran province of Aceh.
National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters that an Aceh-based militant group had planned to attack President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, government officials, and state guests attending an independence day event in August, and would then declare Indonesia an Islamic state ruled by sharia law.
“They planned to attack and murder state officials at the August 17 celebrations. There, they saw all of the state officials as assassination targets, including the state guests attending the ceremony,” Danuri said.
According to a slide presentation at the conference, the militants had planned to launch an attack on the president, government officials and state guests at the Independence Day ceremony because they believed that security officers’ weapons would not be loaded with bullets.
The police chief said the militants believed that killing state officials would speed up their push for Indonesia “to go from a democratic nation to a nation under sharia law.”
He also said that the militants had planned to attack and occupy hotels used by certain communities, a common reference to foreigners, copying the hotel sieges in Mumbai, and that they were targeting foreigners, including Americans, in the capital Jakarta and Java island.
A map of Singapore was found among the militants’ possessions, Danuri said.
Earlier on Friday, an expert on militants said that US President Barack Obama, who is due to visit Indonesia in June, was one of several suspected targets of the militants.
Intelligence expert Mardigu Wowi Prasantyo, who is close to the police investigation, said books and documents found in the raids suggested the militants planned an attack on Obama, possibly during his visit to Indonesia.
“They did not say it, but this was evident in their books and documents, that the leader of America was their enemy and should be attacked whenever possible,” he told Reuters by phone.
Mardigu said other suspected targets included President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, police officials, ministers, oil depots and electricity infrastructure, dams, and liberal Muslims, in order to destabilise the government.
“This we know from what they said and also we got from their laptops and documents. As for when, however, we do not know,” Mardigu said.
He added that the information was gathered mostly from documents taken during a series of raids in Solo this week, as well as in Jakarta, Medan, and Aceh in recent weeks.
Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, was expected to visit Indonesia in March but delayed his trip until mid-June so he could oversee the passage of the US health bill.
Another intelligence expert told Reuters last year that militants planned to use snipers to attack Obama’s convoy during his visit.
Reuters
May 14, 2010
Olivia Rondonuwu & Telly Nathalia
Indonesian militants captured in recent police raids were planning a series of attacks including a Mumbai-style hotel siege targeting foreigners and an assault on the president at an independence ceremony, police said on Friday.
Police have arrested and killed several suspected jihadists during a series of raids across the country since February when they discovered a militant training camp in the Sumatran province of Aceh.
National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters that an Aceh-based militant group had planned to attack President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, government officials, and state guests attending an independence day event in August, and would then declare Indonesia an Islamic state ruled by sharia law.
“They planned to attack and murder state officials at the August 17 celebrations. There, they saw all of the state officials as assassination targets, including the state guests attending the ceremony,” Danuri said.
According to a slide presentation at the conference, the militants had planned to launch an attack on the president, government officials and state guests at the Independence Day ceremony because they believed that security officers’ weapons would not be loaded with bullets.
The police chief said the militants believed that killing state officials would speed up their push for Indonesia “to go from a democratic nation to a nation under sharia law.”
He also said that the militants had planned to attack and occupy hotels used by certain communities, a common reference to foreigners, copying the hotel sieges in Mumbai, and that they were targeting foreigners, including Americans, in the capital Jakarta and Java island.
A map of Singapore was found among the militants’ possessions, Danuri said.
Earlier on Friday, an expert on militants said that US President Barack Obama, who is due to visit Indonesia in June, was one of several suspected targets of the militants.
Intelligence expert Mardigu Wowi Prasantyo, who is close to the police investigation, said books and documents found in the raids suggested the militants planned an attack on Obama, possibly during his visit to Indonesia.
“They did not say it, but this was evident in their books and documents, that the leader of America was their enemy and should be attacked whenever possible,” he told Reuters by phone.
Mardigu said other suspected targets included President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, police officials, ministers, oil depots and electricity infrastructure, dams, and liberal Muslims, in order to destabilise the government.
“This we know from what they said and also we got from their laptops and documents. As for when, however, we do not know,” Mardigu said.
He added that the information was gathered mostly from documents taken during a series of raids in Solo this week, as well as in Jakarta, Medan, and Aceh in recent weeks.
Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, was expected to visit Indonesia in March but delayed his trip until mid-June so he could oversee the passage of the US health bill.
Another intelligence expert told Reuters last year that militants planned to use snipers to attack Obama’s convoy during his visit.
Reuters
