Terrorists Could Shift Tactics: Indonesia

As if it is not bad enough that tourists are blatantly and mercilessly targeted by terrorists with bombs it now seems they have new tactics for crippling the archipelago and ridding the islands of westerners.

Although the idea of kidnapping tourists was on the grapevine not long after last year's bombings, it now appears these animals are serious with Al-Qaida linked militants spouting they could shift tactics from bombings to kidnapping foreigners and broadcasting their pictures over the Internet.

Jemaah Islamiyah which has been blamed for deadly blasts in the sprawling archipelago annually since 2002 has been weakened by a security crackdown with hundreds of militants arrested and several killed.

But its desire to launch another bombing in 2006 seems indisputable said Christian Le Miere, Janes Foreign Report's Asia Pacific editor, adding that the size and target of an attack will be limited.

"While suicide pedestrian attacks on commonly frequented tourist or commercial areas are relatively simply to undertake the resources and planning required may prove too complex for JI at the moment" he said in a press release.

"Cost-effective tactics which achieve widespread publicity such as kidnapping foreigners and broadcasting images of the hostages over the Internet are therefore a further, albeit less likely, possibility."

Jemaah Islamiyah was blamed for the 2002 attack on the resort island of Bali, attacks in the capital Jakarta in 2003 and 2004 and a triple suicide bombing on Bali last October that together killed more than 260 people, many of them foreigners.

"The ease with which JI has carried out attacks in the past shows that another annual bombing is a real possibility" Le Miere wrote. "There is also pressure on JI to maintain the rhythmic tempo that previous attacks have created."