Ethnic-colored riot hits Ujungpandang<\/p>\n
UJUNGPANDANG (JP): Mobs of people went on a rampage throughout
\nthe city's center in a riot with ethnic overtones on Monday night
\nand yesterday.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the city remained tense last night with
\nsoldiers and police officers deployed in the Chinatown district
\nwhich suffered the worst damage.<\/p>\n
The riot was provoked by rumors that a nine-year-old girl was
\nhacked to death by a man, said to be of a Chinese descent, on
\nMonday evening.<\/p>\n
The alleged killer, believed to be insane, was later mobbed to
\ndeath by an angry crowd of people who later vented their anger by
\nattacking houses and shops belonging to ethnic Chinese residents.<\/p>\n
South Sulawesi Police Chief Brig. Gen. Ali Hanafiah said
\nyesterday that four people were killed.<\/p>\n
Besides the girl and the alleged killer, a fireman died while
\nfighting a fire at one of the burning houses, and a woman
\nsuffocated when she was trapped in her smoldering home.<\/p>\n
Around 10 people were injured.<\/p>\n
Police said a temple, eight houses and eight entertainment
\ncenters were razed and more than 400 other buildings were
\ndamaged. In addition, 51 cars and 58 motorcycles were either set
\non fire or damaged.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Agum Gumelar, chief of the Wirabuana Regional
\nMilitary Command overseeing Sulawesi, appealed for calm
\nyesterday, saying that people should not be easily provoked by
\nrumors of racially motivated murder.<\/p>\n
"It's not the murder of a Moslem by a non-Moslem. It's not the
\nmurder of a Makasarese by a person of Chinese descent," he said.
\nMakasar is one of the main subethnic groups in South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
"It's the murder of a common person by an insane person," he
\nsaid at a media conference held to explain the chronology of the
\nriot.<\/p>\n
Officials identified the nine-year-old girl as Anni Mujahidah
\nRasulullah, and her attacker as 23-year-old Benny.<\/p>\n
The head of Ujungpandang Mental Care Hospital, Deny Tong,
\nconfirmed that Benny had been a patient there. "Benny was under
\nintensive treatment here for schizophrenia and paranoia," Deny
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
According to the official version of events, Anni had just
\nfinished attending a Koran reading lesson at 7 p.m. on Monday and
\nwas on her way home when she was suddenly attacked by Benny.<\/p>\n
A 19-year-old woman who accompanied Anni, Noro, was also
\nattacked and suffered an arm injury.<\/p>\n
The girls' screams alerted the neighborhood and they soon
\nunarmed Benny and started beating him.<\/p>\n
Police arrived too late, and Benny was killed before they
\ncould rush him to a hospital.<\/p>\n
Then the rampage began.<\/p>\n
The angry mob immediately spilled onto the main streets, where
\nmost ethnic Chinese people live and run their shops.<\/p>\n
The chief targets were shops and houses along Jl. Nusantara,
\nJl. Sulawesi and Jl. Sombaopu. They also attacked shops on Jl.
\nIrian, Jl. Bulusaraung, Jl. Veteran, Jl. G. Latimojong and Jl.
\nCenderawasih. The rioters also threw stones and burned houses and
\nbuildings on Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin, Jl. Sultan Alauddin and Jl.
\nKumala.<\/p>\n
The riot went on into the early hours of Tuesday. It resumed
\nlater in the morning with university students joining the mob,
\nwitnesses said.<\/p>\n
At the press conference, Agum was accompanied by Hanafiah,
\nSouth Sulawesi Governor Zainal Basri Palaguna, the province's
\nlegislative Council Speaker Amin Syam, chief of the Fourth Naval
\nBase Rear Adm. Hary Mulyo, chief of the Second Air Base
\nOperational Command Rear Marshal Suparno Muanan and Ujungpandang
\nMayor Malik B. Masry.<\/p>\n
The conference was televised live by the local TVRI station to
\nviewers in Ujungpandang.<\/p>\n
Agum said he did not consider it necessary to impose a night
\ncurfew in Ujungpandang. "However, people should not go out at
\nnight unless it's really important," he said.<\/p>\n
He warned that the military would not tolerate further
\nviolence and would take necessary measures against rioters,<\/p>\n
Hanafiah said 22 people had been detained for their alleged
\nrole in the riot. Five of them were arrested for stealing, while
\n17 others for damaging people's property.<\/p>\n
Separately, Armed Forces spokesman A. Wahab Mokodongan said in
\nJakarta that 10 of the detained rioters were ex-convicts.
\n(30\/31\/37\/imn)<\/p>",
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