Grenade found inside Jakarta Hilton compound

JAKARTA - A sweeper found a grenade in the parking lot of the heavily guarded Hilton hotel in Jakarta today, police said, just days after warnings that militants might attack one of the three Hiltons in Indonesia.

"It's about the size of a fist. It has been taken away," Jakarta police spokesman Tjiptono said.

Another officer said the bomb squad were examining the device, which he called a pineapple grenade. It was found early on Monday morning.

Emeraldo Parengkuan, public relations director at the Jakarta Hilton, said a staff member found a suspicious package.

"It was wrapped in a can," Parengkuan said.

The discovery follows warnings from Western governments led by Australia that militants might target an international hotel in the world's most populous Muslim nation during the Christmas and New Year period, particularly one of the Hiltons.

Police had already tightened security at the Hilton hotels. Besides Jakarta, there is one on the resort island of Bali and also in Surabaya, capital of East Java province.

The Jakarta Hilton borders two major thoroughfares in the capital. The hotel and a separate apartment complex under the same management covers extensive grounds.

The US State Department issued a fresh warning late last week for Americans to avoid non-essential travel to Indonesia, saying "the terrorist threat continues and may increase over the December-January holiday period".

Police have deployed an additional 18,400 personnel for Christmas and New Year to protect churches and entertainment centres.

Islamic militants from Jemaah Islamiah, seen as the regional arm of al Qaeda, have launched bomb attacks in recent years in Indonesia, hitting nightclubs in Bali, the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta and the Australian embassy in the capital.

In the worst attack, 202 people were killed in Bali two years when militants bombed two nightclubs. The dead included 88 Australians.

- REUTERS