INDONESIA tightened security around the president yesterday after threats to his life, with the execution of three men convicted over the Bali bombings imminent.
The threat to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was in an online letter purportedly from the death row Bali bombers, Mukhlas, brother Amrozi and Imam Samudra, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said.
The letter, posted on an Internet website in Indonesian, Arabic and English and dated August, urges people to "war against and kill" Yudhoyono and other senior officials in retaliation for the executions.
"We are taking necessary steps to overcome the threat to the President and officials. This cannot be treated as a mere hoax," presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng told reporters.
"Around the world, such threats are against the law and are treated as acts of terror," Mallarangeng said.
Police earlier announced they were investigating who was behind the letter, which has been on the Internet for at least the last month.
A lawyer for the bombers, Fahmi Bachmid, said the letter was not written by his clients.
Security has been boosted across the mainly Muslim archipelago amid fears of reprisal attacks following the executions, which are expected to happen by firing squad this week.
The United States and Australian embassies were earlier in the day the target of anonymous bomb threats sent to police by text message pledging to blow up the embassies if the bombers were executed.
Police later announced the all-clear after searches of the heavily guarded embassy compounds failed to find any bombs.
The 2002 Bali attacks targeted nightspots packed with Western tourists, killing 202 people including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians. The bombers said the attacks were revenge for US aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Australia has warned citizens against travel to Indonesia, and the United States - which lost seven nationals in the attack - has warned Americans in the country to "maintain a low profile."
About 30 radicals arrived at Mukhlas and Amrozi's home village of Tenggulun, east Java, around dawn Monday and denounced the executions as "murder."
"There are hundreds of us waiting to come... If Amrozi is executed a thousand more will come," said Abdulrahim, a member of the group led by radical leader Abu Bakar Bashir.
Bashir is one of the founders of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror network, which is blamed for the Bali bombings and other attacks across Southeast Asia.
Other supporters wore balaclavas and shouted threats against the United States, its regional ally Australia and Israel. "Free Amrozi, destroy America!" they chanted.AFP
The threat to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was in an online letter purportedly from the death row Bali bombers, Mukhlas, brother Amrozi and Imam Samudra, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said.
The letter, posted on an Internet website in Indonesian, Arabic and English and dated August, urges people to "war against and kill" Yudhoyono and other senior officials in retaliation for the executions.
"We are taking necessary steps to overcome the threat to the President and officials. This cannot be treated as a mere hoax," presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng told reporters.
"Around the world, such threats are against the law and are treated as acts of terror," Mallarangeng said.
Police earlier announced they were investigating who was behind the letter, which has been on the Internet for at least the last month.
A lawyer for the bombers, Fahmi Bachmid, said the letter was not written by his clients.
Security has been boosted across the mainly Muslim archipelago amid fears of reprisal attacks following the executions, which are expected to happen by firing squad this week.
The United States and Australian embassies were earlier in the day the target of anonymous bomb threats sent to police by text message pledging to blow up the embassies if the bombers were executed.
Police later announced the all-clear after searches of the heavily guarded embassy compounds failed to find any bombs.
The 2002 Bali attacks targeted nightspots packed with Western tourists, killing 202 people including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians. The bombers said the attacks were revenge for US aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Australia has warned citizens against travel to Indonesia, and the United States - which lost seven nationals in the attack - has warned Americans in the country to "maintain a low profile."
About 30 radicals arrived at Mukhlas and Amrozi's home village of Tenggulun, east Java, around dawn Monday and denounced the executions as "murder."
"There are hundreds of us waiting to come... If Amrozi is executed a thousand more will come," said Abdulrahim, a member of the group led by radical leader Abu Bakar Bashir.
Bashir is one of the founders of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror network, which is blamed for the Bali bombings and other attacks across Southeast Asia.
Other supporters wore balaclavas and shouted threats against the United States, its regional ally Australia and Israel. "Free Amrozi, destroy America!" they chanted.AFP
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