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JAKARTA, Dec 5 (AFP) - Foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia dropped 19.5 percent in October compared to the previous month and the tourism minister said rising anti-American sentiment was partly to blame.

I Gede Ardika, quoted by Wednesday's Jakarta Post, said threats by hardline Muslim groups to expel foreigners led several governments to warn citizens against travelling to Indonesia.

The threats were made before and after the United States and its allies launched attacks in Afghanistan in response to the September 11 terror strikes in the US.

Only 310,997 foreign tourists arrived in the country in October, 19.5 percent down from September and 15.8 percent down year-on-year, Ardika told parliament on Tuesday.

The September arrival figure was itself 3.7 percent less than in August, he added.

Ardika said the government had lowered its foreign tourism target for this year to between 5.1 and 5.2 million from 5.4 million.

Indonesia last year failed to reach its 5.1 million tourist arrival target, with only 5.064 million arrivals registered.

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