The Danish Embassy in Jakarta has received threats that new and more violent demonstrations will take place Tuesday in Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan as well as Bali unless Denmark issues an official apology for the drawings of the prophet Mohammad.
“We have in a rather blunt way been told, that what happened in Beirut and Damascus [where the embassy was put on fire] could also happen here,” says Ambassador Niels Erik Andersen. The Danish embassy in Jakarta is located in a high rise building, but so were the embassies in the two other capitals.
The embassy decided Sunday to send two of its Danish staff as well as the families of the remaining diplomats away. The embassy was also closes down on Monday.
“We take a day at a time and I cannot say, when we will open again,” Ambassador Andersen says.
The Embassy communicates with he demonstrator through one of the local staff.
“We had arranged for a meeting today at ten o’clock with as well the FPI organization, which organized the demonstrations on Friday as the Islamic political part PKS, but I called it off again,” says Niels Erik Andersen.
“We would still like to meet, but it has to be in an orderly fashion and at a neutral location,” he says.
Instead, the ambassador met for three hours with staff at the Indonesian ministry for foreign affairs where he was assured that the ministry recognizes its responsibility for guaranteeing his and his embassy’s safety.
The around 250 resident Danes in Indonesia, that are known to the embassy, have been informed of the situation through emails over the last four days. On Monday morning, the latest email informed of the planned demonstrations in Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan of which only the first two materialized. The Danes have also been encouraged to keep a low profile.
The Ambassador and the Deputy Head of Mission Ulrich Sorensen, have both spoken to many of the Danes and it is their impression that only very few, if indeed any, have plans to leave the country at this point.
“At this point it seems that the anger is directed only towards Denmark as a nation and not towards the Danish people. But that might of course change,” he adds.
