Denmark asks citizens to leave Indonesia after threats

Denmark’s Foreign Ministry today urged all Danes to leave Indonesia, saying they were under threat from an extremist group over the prophet cartoons.

The ministry said it had received reliable information indicating “a significant and imminent threat to Danes and Danish interests in Indonesia”.

“There is concrete information that indicates that an extremist group actively will seek out Danes in protest of the publication of the Mohammed drawings,” the ministry said in a statement. It did not name the group.

The ministry said the threat was focused on the eastern part of Java, but that it could spread to other parts of the country, including Bali.

Denmark earlier today announced it had removed its embassy personnel from Indonesia because of unspecified threats.

Embassies in Syria, Iran and Lebanon have also been temporarily shut after attacks by angry mobs protesting over the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper in September.