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)