Anti-Howard demonstration turns violent
Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Dozens of students scuffled with police on Friday during a protest against Canberra's alleged interference in Indonesia's domestic affairs when Australian Prime Minister John Howard met leaders of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta.
Several protesters and police personnel, including Deputy Sleman Police Chief Comr. Edy Sukaryo, were slightly injured in the brief clash.
Carrying a banner that read: "Stop interfering in Indonesia", the students threw stones at police guarding the entrance gate to the university.
Other banners read: "Mr Rector, don't sell our campus to Australia" and "Go to hell with your aid" -- a slogan once used by Indonesia's first president, the late Sukarno.
The clash erupted when the protesters grouped in the National Student Front tried to break through a police barricade close to the Balairung building, where Howard was talking to lecturers.
Only one student managed to break through the barricade but was quickly arrested by the police. They said he would be released after being questioned.
The scuffle ended after the protesters retreated after they realized they were badly outnumbered by the police.
UGM Rector Ichlasul Amal slammed the students for starting the violence. "I know who is behind this. It's Willy. He will be expelled if necessary," he told reporters after the meeting, referring to a student in the school of philosophy.
Amal argued that a demonstration was a normal way of expressing the public's aspirations as long as it was peaceful.
Howard toured UGM, which was established in 1949 and is Indonesia's oldest university, and also met with Australians studying there, after visiting Borobudur Temple in Magelang, some 20 kilometers north from Yogyakarta.
He was accompanied to the university by Minister of Foreign Affairs Hasan Wirayuda, Minister of Tourism I Gede Ardika, Minister of Research and Technology Hatta Rajasa, and Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo.
The Australian prime minister arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday in an effort to smooth rocky relations between the two nations.
He met President Megawati Soekarnoputri in Jakarta and both agreed to coordinate efforts to combat international terrorism in the region.
However, leaders of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the House of Representatives boycotted the visit citing Australia's alleged interference in Indonesia's domestic affairs.
Howard flew to the tourist island of Bali later Friday from where he is due to return home to Canberra.