VZCZCXRO0920
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1843/01 3100942
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060942Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3742
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1144
RUEHHE/AMEMBASY HELSINKI 0963
RUEHBY//AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3683
RUEHTC/AMQEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3491
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 2114
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001843 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
AIDAC 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS, DS/IP/EAP, DS/DSS, INR/EAP and INL 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS AID 
USAID FOR ANE/EAA, MARGOT ELLIS DAA ASIA BUREAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC CASC SOCI ID
SUBJECT: GERMAN RED CROSS REP SHOT IN DRIVEBY ATTACK 
 
REF: Jakarta 08 1828 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary. German national Dr. Erhard Bauer, head of the 
German Red Cross in Indonesia, was shot in a drive-by shooting on 
the early evening of November 5.  Dr. Bauer was riding in the front 
passenger seat of a clearly marked German Red Cross vehicle.  The 
assailant fired from the back of a motorbike and sped away after 
firing three shots.  While the motive for the shooting remains 
unclear, there is no indication at this point that the shooting is 
anything but an isolated incident or that there is any increased 
threat to foreigners in Aceh. This shooting represents the most 
serious security incident involving foreign nationals working for 
international organizations in Aceh since the kidnapping of World 
Bank advisor Adrien Morrell in September, 2008 (reftel) and the only 
shooting incident involving a foreign national working for the 
international community since 2005 tsunami relief and reconstruction 
efforts began.  End Summary. 
 
Chronology 
---------- 
¶2.  (U) Shortly after 1700 local time on November 5 Dr. Bauer and 
several Indonesian members of the German Red Cross in Aceh were 
traveling in a German Red Cross Toyota Landcruiser along a road in 
Greater Aceh District, the regency surrounding the provincial 
capital of Banda Aceh. According to German Red Cross local staff 
contacted by Medan on November 6 Dr. Bauer was on a working visit 
from Jakarta visiting Aceh from November 4 to 6. Media reports 
confirmed by initial police accounts stated a motorbike with driver 
and passenger pulled up alongside the vehicle on the passenger side 
and a total of three shots were fired by the passenger of the 
motorbike into the vehicle, all concentrated on the front passenger 
side of the car where Dr. Bauer was seated. 
 
¶3.  (U) Dr. Bauer sustained injuries to one of his arms and hand and 
suffered a gunshot wound to his ribcage. Neither the Indonesian 
driver nor the other passengers (Indonesian local staff of the 
German Red Cross) riding in the vehicle at the time of the shooting 
were injured. Dr. Bauer was taken to a local hospital for treatment 
where Governor Irwandi Yusuf and Police Chief Adityawarman visited 
him. Media photos show him conscious and sitting up on his gurney at 
the hospital. In the early morning of November 6 Dr. Bauer was 
medically evacuated to Singapore for further treatment. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) APP Medan Principal Officer spoke to Police leading the 
investigation on November 6, who stated they are trying to recover 
bullet fragments and following up leads in the case but have no 
suspects or motive identified at this early stage. Medan PO also 
expressed concern for the safety of Americans and other foreigners 
working in Aceh and asked police to keep USG apprised of their 
efforts to find those responsible. 
 
Reaction 
-------- 
¶5.  (SBU) The shooting marks the first time that a foreign national 
working for the international community in Aceh has been the victim 
of this type of attack. Officials at the Germany Embassy, contacted 
on November 6 by Medan, expressed concern that a clearly marked Red 
Cross vehicle would be the target of a shooting, and added their 
disbelief that Dr. Bauer would have been targeted personally. In a 
conversation with the resident European Commission representative in 
Banda Aceh on November 6, John Penny, stated that the EC had asked 
him to "lay low" pending results of the initial police 
investigation, but that no NGOs had curtailed operations at this 
point, although all were more vigilant in the wake of the attack. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In a detailed written brief on the incident to the 
international NGO community on November 6, respected resident 
security analyst Stephen Almsteier cautioned against viewing a 
single incident as a trend. While acknowledging the seriousness of 
the attack, he added that there is no information indicating that 
this attack is part of a larger trend of targeting foreigners in 
Aceh or that there is any increased risk to foreigners visiting or 
working in Aceh. Nevertheless, given the seriousness of the incident 
there are likely to be further discussions among the international 
agencies working in Aceh over the coming days regarding 
repercussions for the operational safety of Aceh-based staff. 
 
JAKARTA 00001843  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
HUME