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Indonesian anti-terrorism drive yields success - minster

Indonesia's foreign minister said on Sunday recent detentions of Islamic militants suspected of plotting to attack Western targets have weakened but not crippled terrorist movements in the country.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 12:30 July 6, 2008
  • Gulf News

Kuala Lumpur: Indonesia's foreign minister said on Sunday recent detentions of Islamic militants suspected of plotting to attack Western targets have weakened but not crippled terrorist movements in the country.

Ten suspects, including a Singaporean, were detained and a large cache of bombs found in recent raids in Palembang and other areas in South Sumatra.

The group had initially been plotting to attack a café popular with tourists in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, a police source said, but had switched to Western targets in Jakarta.

Speaking in the Malaysian capital, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Indonesia's anti-terrorism drive has yielded some success.

He said, "We are not sure whether we have crippled (them), but the fact that they are on the run, and the fact that we have uncovered various terrorist cells in the past three years means that they are within our reach.

"And that's why we feel more secure," he told reporters at the sidelines of a meeting of eight developing Islamic nations grouping Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

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