T

he recent arrest of two terrorist suspects believed to have plotted an attack on the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta is proof that terrorism remains a threat in the country, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Saturday.

Two terrorist suspects, Sefa Riano, 22, and Achmad Taufiq, 29, were arrested late on Thursday while travelling by motorbike in a busy residential area near Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta. The National Police'€™s counterterrorism squad Detachment 88 also confiscated a backpack containing five homemade pipe bombs that were '€œready to be used'€.

The thwarted terror plot was allegedly motivated by the sectarian conflict between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar that has cost the lives of many members of the Muslim minority community. '€œThe recent arrest shows that terrorism still exists in Indonesia. Therefore, of course, we must be alert. The President reminds the public to help prevent such acts of terror, especially those masterminded by terrorist cells in Indonesia,'€ Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said in a statement on Saturday.

In the meantime, the police are still seeking motives and the suspects'€™ connection with other terrorist cells. On Friday, the police raided a house in Pamulang, South Tangerang, which was rented by Sigit Indrajit, who is believed to be connected with the case, according to media reports. The police failed to find Sigit, but they found books on jihad and the politics of jihad in the house.

Julian said, while asking the public to remain vigilant, the President had assured that Jakarta was safe. '€œRest assured that the police keep on working to prevent or counteract actions of such groups that may compromise security ['€¦] including terrorism,'€ he added. The President, the spokesman said, appreciated the police'€™s work in foiling the terror attack on a foreign mission in Jakarta.

Although the police have yet to officially confirm that the two men planned to bomb the Myanmar Embassy, an analyst has said the violence against Rohingya, Muslims from Myanmar, has provoked terrorist groups in Indonesia.

In September last year, terrorist suspect Muhammad Thoriq, 32, turned himself in to a police post in West Jakarta, claiming that he had been preparing to blow himself up in a Buddhist community building. Thoriq was driven by the plight of the Rohingya, many of whom have fled to Bangladesh due to persecution.

Myanmar'€™s Rakhine state was shaken twice by anti-Muslim violence last year. In March, the deadly sectarian violence spread for the first time to central Myanmar, leaving dozens dead. As of Saturday afternoon, the Myanmar ambassador to Indonesia U Min Luin had not replied when contacted through email or by phone since Friday night.

In late April, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who accompanied the President to Myanmar, said Indonesia was confident that Thein Sein'€™s government '€œis trying to do the right thing in terms of getting the communal conflict under control'€.

Meanwhile, up to 2,000 police were deployed Friday to secure the Myanmar Embassy and its ambassador'€™s house before a demonstration by the Islam Defenders Front (FPI). Several hundred protesters showed up dressed in white with some holding banners that read: '€œWe want jihad'€ and '€œStop genocide in Myanmar'€.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene said that Indonesia, through the National Police, assures the security of all foreign embassies based in Indonesia in accordance with the law. '€œThe Police have secured the embassy; thankfully the protests went smoothly without any incident,'€ Michael said. (asw)