U.S. to Take Some of Staff Out of Jakarta

Concerned by mounting threats against Americans in Indonesia, the U.S. Embassy here said Thursday that it will begin withdrawing “nonemergency” employees and family members who wish to leave the country.

In a strongly worded warning, the embassy urged other Americans to consider leaving and advised those who remain in Indonesia to “exercise maximum caution.”

Outside the U.S. Embassy, more than 1,000 demonstrators burned American and Israeli flags and an effigy of President Bush on Thursday to protest the expected U.S. military action in Afghanistan. Some chanted, “Go to hell, America.”

In recent days, several Islamic fundamentalist groups have threatened to kill Americans if the United States retaliates against Afghanistan for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

One radical newspaper published a death threat this week against U.S. Ambassador Robert Gelbard. On Thursday, the ambassador criticized Indonesian authorities for not taking action against extremists who have threatened to harm Americans.

“They have not been prepared to act, to warn or to arrest people who break the law when there are threats against the lives of Americans,” Gelbard told reporters.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri condemned the Sept. 11 attacks last week when she visited Washington and met with Bush. But Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, is divided in its loyalties.

Many Muslims see any military action against Afghanistan as an attack on Islam. The fundamentalist Taliban regime in Afghanistan has sheltered Osama bin Laden, considered by U.S. officials to be the prime suspect in the attacks on the United States.

Megawati, who traveled around the U.S. to promote Indonesia as a site for investment, went on to Japan and has not returned home to address the deteriorating business climate or the growing criticism of her alliance with the Bush administration.

American companies, including Nike and General Motors, are following the embassy’s lead and will send family members of their expatriate employees out of the country. Some firms have begun to do so already.

One U.S. official said a variety of threats had prompted the embassy to act. In recent days, groups of Islamic extremists have gone to hotels in Central Java province, inspected guest registers and demanded that any Americans leave the country. One American in the city of Yogyakarta was roughed up.

Ja’far Umar Thalib, the leader of Laskar Jihad--the country’s most formidable extremist group, with thousands of armed fighters--told The Times last week that his forces would attack Americans if the U.S. carries out a military strike on Afghanistan.

He said his group would first warn the Indonesian government and the U.S. Embassy that Americans must leave the country. Any who stayed behind would be considered enemies of Islam and fair targets.

Jakarta police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam said the police force is capable of protecting Americans. If not, he said, the military will help.

“The most important thing is that we will protect the Americans while they are here,” said Alam, a senior police commander. “But if they leave, what will happen to their assets? They should think carefully about leaving the country.”

Arian Ardie, an independent consultant who serves as a governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia, said the situation has not deteriorated to the point where companies are ordering mandatory evacuation.

He noted that death threats against Americans have yet to be carried out, whereas in the U.S., scores of people believed to be Muslims have been attacked and at least one killed by angry Americans.

“More people have been attacked and killed in the United States in reprisals than Americans have been attacked here in Indonesia,” he said. “I think it is still safer to be an American overseas than a Muslim in America.”