Banser to patrol Yogyakarta

YOGYAKARTA: The security task force of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization (Banser) is to patrol Yogyakarta around the clock starting this Saturday to help the police maintain security and order in the city following recent attacks by certain Islamic groups.

Chief of Yogyakarta's Banser, Sucipto, told a media conference at his office on Jl. HOS Cokroaminoto here on Thursday that there would be 15 to 20 Banser personnel in charge of the daily patrol.

Several groups of men, who claimed to be members of the Anti- Vice Movement (GAM) and the Ka'bah Youth Movement (GPK), recently attacked some student demonstrators and pro-democracy activists. The latest incident was an attack on participants in a discussion on AIDS in Kaliurang tourism resort last week, which was organized by the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI), leaving at least 32 participants injured.

Sucipto asserted that the planned daily patrol was part of the efforts to keep the tourist city peaceful.

He said the patrol would be conducted for an indefinite period. (44)