New York: The US had repeatedly warned Indonesia that al-Qaida was planning attacks on Americans and other Westerners, with the latest warning coming a day before the deadly blast that killed more than 180 people, Bush administration officials on October 16 said.

American Ambassador Ralph C Boyce had delivered the latest warning to Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her top advisers just a day before the bombing and gave her a deadline of October 24 to act.

In its warnings, the US said an attack would not necessarily have an official American site as its target, but perhaps one known to attract its civilians, a senior US official was quoted as saying.

"We told them, 'Wrap it up. Block it. Demonstrate that you are serious about eliminating the threat against us,'" the official said, not specifying the action to be taken.

If the government did not act by the time Megawati was scheduled to meet US President George W Bush in Mexico in late October, the Indonesian leader was told, the US planned to send a public signal that Indonesia was a terrorist haven by ordering all but the most essential American diplomats home, the officials told the 'New York Times'.

Washington took the likelihood of an attack seriously, basing its judgment on Central Intelligence Agency questioning of an al-Qaida operative, senior American officials were quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The operative, Omar al-Faruq, was detained in Central Java in June and was turned over to the US but only started talking early in September, it said.

PTI