Australia warns citizens about terror threats in Indonesia

By the CNN Wire staff

(CNN) -- Australian authorities issued a warning Friday to its citizens who may be traveling to Indonesia that the recent arrest of a terror suspect could lead to terror attacks there.

"The reported arrest in Pakistan of Umar Patek, an Indonesian national alleged to be involved in several major terrorist attacks, may increase the risk of violent responses in Indonesia in the short term," the warning from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

Patek is one of the top suspects in the Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people in 2002, Indonesian police have said.

Several news organizations reported Monday that Patek had been arrested in Pakistan on March 2.

Indonesia has sent a team to Pakistan to confirm that it is indeed Patek that was arrested.

Michael Tene, spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, said he was not sure why Australia issued the warning.

"As far as I know from our security forces, the police, the situation in Indonesia is quite normal. I cant speculate on what specific information the Australian government has that would make them issue this advisory," Tene said.

Patek, an Indonesian of Javanese and Arab descent, is suspected of acting as the deputy field coordinator of the 2002 bombings in Bali

Seven Americans were killed in the attacks.

Authorities and security experts say Patek was a member of the terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, that he took part in the Bali bombings, and that fled to Mindanao in the Philippines in 2003.