Indonesian police 'received text message warning of blast'

Police received a phone text message before the Australian Embassy bombing, warning that foreign missions in Jakarta would be attacked unless the alleged head of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group was freed, Australia’s foreign minister said today.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard repeated Foreign Minister Alexander Downer’s allegation at a press conference in Canberra, saying the threat was not passed on to Australian Federal Police until hours after Thursday’s bombing.