Indonesia police arrest 'terrorists' planning US embassy attack
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JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian police arrested 11 suspected terrorists today allegedly planning attacks on the US embassy in the capital Jakarta and other diplomatic missions, a spokesman said.
"The group's objectives were to attack the US embassy in Jakarta and consulate-general in the eastern Javanese city of Surabaya," national police spokesman Suhardi Alius told reporters.
Mr Alius said the group was also targeting a building in the capital near the Australian embassy where US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan has an office. "We also confiscated an explosive device from a home in the town of Madiun in eastern Java, as well as explosive materials and a bomb-making manual," he said.
Anti-terror police Detachment 88 made the arrests in four cities, including Jakarta, in a sweep on the island of Java, saying the detained belonged to a new network known as Hasmi. Explosive materials were also secured from a location in Solo, central Java, and in Bogor on the outskirts of the capital.
