Iranian attempts suicide

JAKARTA (JP): An Iranian man attempted suicide without any apparent motive in front of the Iran Embassy in Menteng subdistrict, Central Jakarta on Monday afternoon, witnesses and police said.

Aryan Kooshesh Abdol Mahdi, 30, poured gasoline on his body from two one-liter sized soft drink bottles and set himself on fire with a cigarette lighter at the intersection of Jl. H.O.S. Cokroaminoto and Jl. Dr. Kusumaatmadja.

A street vendor, who stood near Abdol Mahdi, said the man showed no pain while the fire burned him. One onlooker quickly took a bucket of water from a food vendor and doused the burning man.

The witness also said that people from the embassy came out of the compound after police arrived some 20 minutes after the fire was put out. Abdol Mahdi was then admitted to the emergency unit of the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Menteng Police subprecinct chief Maj. Herwinoto said the embassy was handling the case and had admitted Abdol Mahdi to Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta for further treatment.

"We still need to find out why he did it because he's too weak to speak. Besides he can't speak Indonesian nor English," Herwinoto told The Jakarta Post.

The embassy's second secretary, Iraj Vafaie, said he was not at his office when the incident took place and that the news didn't break in the compound. "I just found out about the incident," he told the Post.

Vafaie said his office was investigating the case and seeking a motive.

"All we know about Abdol Mahdi right now is that he has a record of mental disorders," he said, but did not elaborate. (01/ylt)