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CNN Live At Daybreak

Threat Closes U.S. Embassy in Jakarta

Aired September 10, 2002 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On the eve of a terrible anniversary, there has been a warning issued worldwide. The State Department says Americans living abroad or traveling should be on alert. In fact, the American Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia has been closed.
CNN's Atika Shubert joins us live from Jakarta.

Good morning.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

The latest news we have is that the U.S. Embassy in Malaysia will also be closed tomorrow. Both embassies are closed due to what they call a -- quote -- "credible and specific threat."

Now, as yet, we don't have any concrete details on exactly what that threat is, either here in Indonesia or in Malaysia, but what we do know is that here in Indonesia, the threat was made specifically to U.S. government facilities, in particular, the embassy in Jakarta and the consulate in the east Java town of Surabaya.

Now, the U.S. Embassy has also closed the American Recreation Club here in Jakarta, but there is no indication at the moment of any threats against U.S. businesses -- Carol.

COSTELLO: As a correspondent there, Atika, are you feeling nervous? Are Americans living there feeling nervous?

SHUBERT: Americans we spoke to said they weren't feeling too nervous, but the embassy did stress that precautions had to be taken to keep a low profile, to stay away from U.S. facilities.

It has to be remembered that the embassy here is no stranger to threats. It has received a number of anti-U.S. protests in the last year and, in fact, received a threat last year, which also forced it to temporarily close down.

So, unfortunately, as the U.S. ambassador told us today, the embassy is used to these kinds of operations -- Carol.

COSTELLO: There have been anti-American protests in Indonesia, right?

SHUBERT: There have. There have been a number of them. Not as much as recently, but immediately following the September 11 attacks, we did see quite a few anti-U.S. protests, mostly to protest against the strike in Afghanistan. But as of recently, we haven't seen that many.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you very much, Atika Shubert, reporting live from Jakarta by phone this morning.

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