JP/3/Cleansing/set lead 3 cols 10 pts/12 MB
Hendro: "Jakarta is secure"
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Hendroprijono said yesterday security in the city was under control, denouncing reports that a curfew would be imposed amidst rumors of racial riots hitting the city.
"We are not at war. No curfew is imposed during Operation Cleansing. There were only raids on people who gather and loiter all night drunk or half-drunk," said the two-star general yesterday after the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the Jakarta military commander's official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar No. 60, Central Jakarta.
The general was quoted by local papers on Tuesday as saying that an army curfew was being imposed as part of Operation Cleansing. Hendroprijono, popularly called Hendro, says he was misquoted.
Lt. Gen. HBL Mantiri, chief of staff of the Armed Forces for general affairs, also said in a nationwide television statement that Hendro was misquoted.
The Jakarta military command yesterday received a series of telephone calls from foreign news agencies and an embassy asking for clarification of the curfew reports.
"We need no curfew. Jakarta is secure. Only one or two persons tried to mess the security. But we already captured some of them, including paid killers and drug traffickers, as you saw yesterday (Tuesday)," Hendro said, referring to the haul during the ongoing anti-crime operation put on display at East Jakarta Military Headquarters on Tuesday.
Almost 500 drunkards and criminals have been apprehended in the first ten days, along with 40,000 bottles of spirits, five firearms and 100 sharp weapons.
Hendro said the operation's squad started to examine begadang (slang for "talking and gathering at night") people starting from 11 p.m. every night, to find if they were drunk or carrying sharp weapons.
Hendro also said after ten days the operation, initially involving 16,700 personnel recruited from the army, navy, air force and police forces, many volunteers have joined, including the "mosque youth," the KNPI (Indonesian Youth National Committee) and martial arts organizations.
"The personnel has tripled now. The public gets braver," said the commander, who peppered his interview with a lot of jokes and laughter, as usual.
Rumor
Hendro also denounced rumors that some areas in Jakarta have been paralyzed by racial riots.
"It's useless rumors spread by some irresponsible individuals who can do nothing anymore. We can detect anything they want to do," said Hendro.
The general declined to identify "they".
Many papers were telephoned by unidentified persons Tuesday evening saying that racial riots occurred in Tanjung Priok, Glodok business area and Senen shopping centers as well as in areas along Jl. Jendral Sudirman, all apparently not true.
"The rumors must be spread by a crazy man who telephoned everywhere. We would be stupid to believe it," said Hendro.
The Post also received phone calls from a foreign embassy and a number of individuals seeking clarification about the rumors on race riots.
The fake mail bomb delivered to the U.S. embassy on Tuesday, he said, might have been sent by the same person who spread the rumors about the riots.
Hendro yesterday also presided over the groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of the construction of army barracks at Yon Arhanudse-6 (the Medium Air Defense Artillery Battalion-6) in Legoa district, North Jakarta. (jsk)