Communist flag at PPP rally

SURABAYA: Police seized a red banner portraying a hammer and sickle, the symbol of communism, at a United Development Party (PPP) rally Wednesday in Gresik.

Police said yesterday that displaying banners with communist symbols in the well guarded campaign was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

East Java military chief Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo said the authorities had initially thought it was an ordinary banner unfurled by an Indonesian Democratic Party supporter.

The red flag had stood out among the sea of PPP green at the rally, he said.

Imam said the man carrying the banner had not been arrested but the police knew his identity, Antara reported.

The Indonesian government has outlawed communism since the 1965 coup attempt blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party. Symbols and publications on communism are banned. (pan)