Islamists Target US Embassy in Indonesia
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U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel (second from right) in a traditional Javanese outfit.
The U.S. Embassy and other sites connected with the U.S. were allegedly the target of terrorist attacks that were thwarted by the arrest of 11 suspected terrorists in Indonesia over the weekend.
The U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Jakarta, the U.S. Consulate in Surabaya, the local office of a U.S. mining company, as well as a plaza near the Australian Embassy and the headquarters of a special police force in Central Java were apparently the targets.
Indonesian national police spokesman Maj. Gen. Suhardi Alius told the Associated Press that the suspected terrorists were arrested in raids in four provinces.
“From evidence found at the scene, we believe that this group was well prepared for serious terror attacks,” Alius told the AP.
Bombs, explosive materials, a manual for making bombs, ammunition and a gas cylinder filled with highly explosive material was discovered in the raids. Also seized were videos and images of attacks on Muslims in different parts of the world.
The suspects belonged to a new group called the Harakah Sunni for Indonesian Society, or HASMI.
According to the group’s website, HASMI was created in 2005, and seeks a strict interpretation of Islam, “since all innovation is misguidance.”
It is unclear whether the targeting of U.S. diplomatic posts is a new trend in Islamic terrorist activity, following the murderous assault by what U.S. officials now admit was a well-planned terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012.
tell a friendAbout the Author: Lori Lowenthal Marcus is the US correspondent for The Jewish Press. She is a recovered lawyer who previously practiced First Amendment law and taught in Philadelphia-area graduate and law schools.
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Kudos to the Indonesian government for their good detective work!
Targeting US diplomatic missions is not new. We forget 1979, when not only was the US embassy in Iran taken over, but also the US embassies in Pakistan and Libya were burned. And we forget 1983, when the US embassy in Lebanon was destroyed and the US embassy in Kuwait was bombed.