Warning to travellers extended as tensions rise

War against terrorism: Safety

Travellers were advised on Tuesday to avoid Pakistan and Indonesia amid rising tensions within Islamic nations after the US-led air strikes against the Taliban regime.

The Foreign Office advised against all "non-essential travel" to Indonesia after police in the capital, Jakarta, clashed with protesters massed outside the US embassy.

It had urged extra care to be taken in many countries after the 11 September outrages. Its travel advice for five countries has been further updated since the start of the American and British cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan.

The Foreign Office has advised against travelling to Pakistan in addition to the whole of Indonesia, except for the popular holiday island of Bali. It added that British nationals already in Pakistan should leave areas such as the North-West Frontier Province, where tensions were running highest.

Following the air strikes, officials also bolstered warnings for Malaysia, India and Israel, where anti-Western feelings are running high. Its advice for Malaysia warns that some people in conversation "may become extremely critical of British policy and adopt a menacing attitude".

Other warnings remained in place throughout central Asia including Uzbekistan, which is becoming an increasingly popular destination for many backpackers.

"British nationals are advised to keep a low profile, maintain a high level of vigilance, avoid situations where there may be tension and stay in touch with fast-moving events until the situation clarifies," the Foreign Office said. For the last six years it has advised tourists not to travel to Afghanistan because of the widespread fighting and social unrest. Tourists had also been warned against visiting Tajikistan before the attacks on New York and Washington.

Despite the advice, the British travel industry said the air strikes would not greatly affect business in the region, which is currently in the low season. Trips to Pakistan and Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, accounted for only 310,000 of the 54 million overseas trips made by Britons in 1999.

The Association of British Travel Agents said it expected trade to pick up in the area at the conclusion of the conflict and compensate for the current decline in business. An ABTA spokesman, Sean Tipton, said: "Bookings have gone down but we are pretty sure they will go back up. The closest to this we got was the Gulf war. As soon as the war stopped, bookings shot up considerably."

The central Asian area was becoming increasingly popular for independent travellers before the air strikes, although there were reports of backpackers still arriving in the area.

The itinerary for a cruise to the Middle East for more than 500 teenagers from schools throughout Britain has been changed to cut out stops in Lebanon and Israel. Despite the changes, parents were still threatening to withdraw their children from the week-long trip. The Greek-based cruise company Royal Olympic said it was replacing calls at the Egyptian port of Alexandria with visits to Venice and Corfu.