Indonesia plays down Australian, U.S. travel warning

The Indonesian government has played down the significance of the issuance of travel warnings by Australia and the United States, saying the warnings are not necessary as Indonesia has been seriously fighting terrorism, official news agency Antara reported on Saturday.

"There is no need for travel warnings. We (Indonesia) are fighting terrorism continuously," Yuri Thamrin, spokesman of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry was quoted as saying here late on Friday.

He said he hoped all parties concerned place their trust in the personnel of Indonesia's security agencies.

"Indonesia is a country which is consistently fighting terrorism and we are continuing to pursue Noordin M Top and other suspected terrorists," Yuri said.

Noordin M Top is a Malaysian citizen who is accused of masterminding a string of bombing attacks in Indonesia since 2000 which have left hundreds of people dead.

His compatriot and partner-in-crime Azahari Husin, also a Malaysian master bomb maker, was killed by Indonesian police during a separate raid on his hideout in East Java, last year.

Australia on Friday warned of a possible terrorist attack against Western interests in Indonesia this weekend, in an updated travel advisory issued by the foreign affairs department in Canberra.

The U.S. embassy in Jakarta on Friday also issued a similar travel advisory for US nationals visiting Indonesia.

Source: Xinhua