Demonstrators clash with troops on Makassar campus

Demonstrators clash with troops on Makassar campus

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): A fierce clash between
demonstrators, armed with swords and wooden bats, and military
troops erupted at about 9 p.m. local time in Makassar on Tuesday
evening.

Gunshots and screams were heard in front of the Hasanuddin
University campus on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan as 300 unidentified
demonstrators resisted a military order to clear the street. A
heavy downpour added drama and tension to the scene.

The protesters, who unexpectedly appeared and broke the
military troops' barricade yelled "Allahu Akbar" (Allah the
Great) and called for a jihad.

A military troop member told The Jakarta Post that his
commander ordered them to resort to tough measures to curb the
brutal demonstrators.

The 300 protesters demanded that their 12 colleagues arrested
by police hours before be freed.

The 12 people were said to be the instigators of the earlier
riot, which broke out on Tuesday.

At late night, 32 people had been detained as a result of the
clash while six people were seriously injured.

A wave of protests by a group of Muslim students started on
Monday. They tortured a non-Muslim and claimed their action as
retaliation for what had happened to their brothers in Maluku.

The demonstration continued and grew wilder on Tuesday when
military troops fired warning shots to disperse about 1,000
demonstrators.

A tentative count, made before the clash, indicated that as of
Monday a total of 27 demonstrators were injured and nine
motorbikes set on fire. "A car belonging to the Indonesian Air
Force was damaged by the mob," an eyewitness said on Tuesday.

Chief of Wirabuana Military Command overseeing South Sulawesi
Maj. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah said he regretted the brutal
actions by the student group, branding such measures a crime. "We
cannot condone what they have done," he said at his residence on
Tuesday.

He said the students heard rumors that one of their colleagues
had been killed by a non-Muslim group.

The riot began when the students stopped motorists passing in
front of their campus. The motorists were ordered to show their
ID cards, and 17 of them, who were found to be non-Muslim, were
assaulted. Seven motorbikes and a car were damaged during the
chaos.

One of the victims said he was questioned, beaten and
stripped. "Three of us are now being treated at the police
hospital for severe stab wounds," he said.

Agus ordered his men to be tough and arrest the violent
students.

In a separate interview, South Sulawesi Police chief Brig.
Gen. Mudji Santoso said the students' actions were inhumane. "We
cannot let such a thing happen again," he said. (27/sur)