Security, economic worries make Christmas less merry in Asia

HONG KONG (AFP) — Boughs of holly and garlands of tinsel are all-too likely to be hiding security cameras in Asia this Christmas as fears of terrorism and economic gloom cast a pall over the festive season.

Following the Oct. 12 bombing on the Indonesian resort island of Bali blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror network, much of the region is on edge.

"We are preparing for the worst," said Indonesian national police spokesman Zainuri Lubis.

Two-thirds of the country’s 270,000 police officers are to be patrolling churches, shopping malls and other public places in Jakarta and around the world’s largest Muslim nation.

Papua, one of the only predominantly Christian provinces where separatists are fighting Indonesian rule, is to host President Megawati Sukarnoputri for a Christmas Day celebration.

Security guards, not ruddy-cheeked Santa Clauses, will greet shoppers at malls in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines in efforts to thwart fresh bomb attacks such as those that killed more than 20 people since October in the capital Manila and in the south.

A traditional Christmas ceasefire with the communist New People’s Army has been called, but rather than extending for the typical two weeks it will cover only Dec. 24-25 and Dec. 31-Jan. 1.