Central Java riots not organized

YOGYAKARTA: Brig. Gen. Bibit Waluyo, who heads the Diponegoro Military Command overseeing Central Java and Yogyakarta, said on Thursday he had not found anything to suggest that a number of recent riots in Central Java had been incited by agents provocateurs.

"There were no agitators behind the recent rioting. They took place spontaneously," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on reform at Gadjah Mada University here.

In recent months, riots and brawls have taken place in Cilacap, Pemalang, Tegal and a number of other Central Java towns. Bibit said than most of the trouble erupted spontaneously among people frustrated by hardships suffered during the economic crisis. (44/29)