INDONESIA: Police throughout southeast Asia have boosted security around western embassies and other potential targets after this week's deadly attack at a luxury hotel in Jakarta.
Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia have all stepped up security after a car-bomb attack on the US-owned Marriott hotel in Jakarta killed at least 10 people.
Security experts have linked the latest attack to Jemaah Islamiah, an Islamic militant group that Indonesian authorities blame for last year's nightclub attacks in Bali. But police have not named the group as a suspect.
In the first verdict in connection with the October 12th Bali attacks, an Indonesian court yesterday found Islamic militant Amrozi guilty, and sentenced him to death.
A Malaysian police source said surveillance had been increased at embassies of the United States and its main allies as well as US businesses, places of worship and nightspots frequented by foreigners.
"We always heighten security after an event like Bali or the Marriott bombing," the police source said. "Not that we expect anything, but we've increased police patrols." The source said Indonesian police had not shared with Malaysia a list of suspected Jemaah Islamiah targets, but it was believed that all the locations were in Indonesia.
One month ago, Indonesian police discovered the list in a note seized from Jemaah Islamiah suspects who were arrested along with a cache of explosive materials. The list included the Marriott.
Thailand, due to host US President George Bush at an Asia-Pacific economic summit in October, has increased its protection around key Western embassies, businesses and popular tourist areas.
Deputy Prime Minister Mr Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said on Wednesday that the threat from Islamic militants had increased. "We must pay closer attention... since the latest incident showed they have intensified their efforts in this region," he said.
In neighbouring Cambodia, where authorities believe the leader of Jemaah Islamiah has recently spent time, security has also been heightened.
Hambali, a bespectacled Indonesian preacher, is suspected of leading the shadowy group and masterminding the Bali attacks which killed 202 people, mostly Australians.
"We have set up police posts at foreign residential areas. If any strangers come to that area, they have to report to the authorities," said Mr Heng Pov, deputy police chief in the capital Phnom Penh.
Australia said yesterday it had not raised its medium-level security alert, which was put in place after the September 11th attacks on the United States. But the government has said it will become even more vigilant.
"Don't let anyone imagine, especially since October 12 last year, we haven't been watching very, very carefully indeed the movement of people in and out of Australia," Prime Minister Mr John Howard said.
"What happened in Jakarta a few days ago will only intensify our efforts to do that," he said.