Jakarta – Indonesia's intelligence chief has confirmed US government warnings that American interests in the country face possible terrorist attacks.

Mr A.M. Hendropriyono, a retired army general, said greater democracy in Indonesia had made it more vulnerable to the forces of international terrorism. "We must improve the performance of our intelligence agency as we are responsible for anything that happens to the Americans and their assets here," he said.

Earlier this month, US officials urged Americans to defer non-essential travel to Indonesia and to stay away from outlying provinces where separatist and religious fighting had flared up. The US State Department said the government had received information that extremists might attack American interests in Indonesia. Britain and Australia have also warned their citizens to take extra care in Indonesia.

The nation of 210 million people has been hit by civil unrest and a wave of unexplained bombings as it struggles to establish democracy three years after the downfall of former president Suharto.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri came to office last month and appointed Mr Hendropriyono as the head of the National Intelligence Agency. "Terrorism has a tendency to flourish in a country which is in transition towards democracy," he said. "So, democratisation should be coupled with the promotion of surveillance." He declined to give details about specific threats, but said foreign terrorists could only operate in Indonesia with help from "domestic accomplices". One of the four army generals in Ms Megawati's Cabinet, Mr Hendropriyono has been accused by human rights groups of ordering the slaughter of more than 100 civilians in southern Sumatra in 1989 when villagers resisted the seizure of their land by cronies of then-president Suharto.