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Indonesian Antiterror Chief Sees Danger in Obama’s Visit
June 03, 2010

Indonesian elite antiterror police unit Densus 88 capture mock terrorists at the Borobudur Hotel during an antiterror exercise in Jakarta ahead of US President Barack Obama Indonesian elite antiterror police unit Densus 88 capture mock terrorists at the Borobudur Hotel during an antiterror exercise in Jakarta ahead of US President Barack Obama's planned, but later canceled, visit in March. The head of Densus 88 is warning of possible dangers ahead of Obama's visit on June 14. (AFP Photo/Adek Berry)
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Indonesia’s counter-terrorism chief on Thursday said extremists could try to disrupt a planned visit by US President Barack Obama this month, although there was no evidence of a direct threat.

Police Colonel Mohammed Tito Karanvian said security forces had recently shattered a major new cell in the Muslim-majority country, the scene of repeated attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

The group had targeted Westerners in Aceh province in the lead-up to Obama’s visit, which was initially scheduled for March, and some of its leaders were still on the loose, he said at a lunch with reporters.

“For the current plan of the visit by Obama we haven’t got any new information on a plot, but we need to pay attention and be very careful. Why? Because some of them remain at large,” Karnavian said.

“The idea was already there in February. We’re not really sure if the idea has already been deleted or not.”

The chief of the Detachment 88 anti-terror squad said police had arrested 61 terrorists and killed 13 since discovering the new cell’s training camp in Aceh in March, he said.

The Aceh cell was linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror network and other extremist groups bent on creating an Islamic caliphate across Southeast Asia, and inspired by Al-Qaeda’s ideology of “holy war.”

“This group, this network, has already attacked, we have at least four incidents against Western interests in Aceh,” Karnavian said. “They had a plot during Obama’s visit to Jakarta [in March] to attack Banda Aceh,” he added, referring to the Aceh capital.

A bomb was thrown at a UN office in Banda Aceh late last year, a German aid worker was shot in November and a house shared by two US teachers was sprayed with gunfire in the same month. There were no fatalities in the incidents.

Obama spent four years of his childhood in Jakarta and his visit has been highly anticipated in his old home town.

The administration has still not confirmed a new arrival date, but the White House said Wednesday the trip would go ahead this month despite speculation it could be delayed again, this time over the BP oil spill.


Agence France-Presse