Indonesian security forces were ordered to their highest level of alert yesterday as the world's most populous Muslim nation celebrated independence day less than two weeks after a deadly bomb attack on a luxury hotel.
Police also announced the arrest of 10 people suspected of involvement in the Aug. 5 bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12 people and wounded 150.
Soldiers in camouflage with assault rifles or machine-guns guarded street corners and the entrances to malls, hotels and government buildings in the capital amid warnings of more attacks by radicals.
"The order for us is 'alert one.' That is the emergency level," national police spokesman Zainuri Lubis said. "For this independence day, we are securing Jakarta and other provinces in the `alert one' status."
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday terror attacks still threatened the region, despite the recent arrest of Southeast Asia's most wanted militant, Hambali, and that Indonesia was the immediate concern.
"Because it is a national day there is thought to be a particular danger," he said on Channel Ten television.
Some 230,000 police were on duty throughout the country, working alongside thousands of soldiers and undercover intelligence agents to foil any possible attacks by militant groups, the police spokesman said.
Security was particularly tight at the presidential palace where President Megawati Sukarnoputri reviewed troops at a special ceremony attended by ministers, foreign diplomats and hundreds of VIP guests.
The celebration comes nearly two weeks after a suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives in the courtyard of the Marriott in central Jakarta.
National police chief General Da'i Bachtiar said authorities had arrested 10 people in connection with the blast.
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