Kopassus 'not E. Java killers'

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) denied on Monday the involvement of members of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) in mysterious killings in East Java which have claimed more than 150 lives, mostly black magic practitioners and Islamic teachers.

"It is not true. If there were Kopassus members who deserted their posts and were involved in the killings, they must have been arrested by the authorities," Syamsul Ma'arif, ABRI's spokesman, was quoted as saying by Antara news service.

He said the cases were purely criminal and there was no indication of other motives. East Java Police chief Maj. Gen M. Dayat said on Friday the police had arrested 334 people suspected of involvement in the murders, and dossiers of 52 of them would be forwarded to the local prosecutor's office.

In the provincial capital of Surabaya, Brawijaya Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. Djoko Subroto appealed for calm among locals who have taken the law into their own hands against suspected killers in recent weeks.

The murders have been attributed to "ninjas", so called because the marauding bands of men operating at night are usually dressed in black and wear masks.

Suspicious mobs in several East Java districts have attacked at least 24 people suspected of being killers, slaying 10 of them.

On Saturday hundreds of people, angered when police refused to hand over a suspected killer to them, rioted in the East Java town of Pasuruan. The violence broke out after a man, suspected of being involved in the killings and terrorization of local Moslem leaders, was arrested on the highway in the nearby Ketapaan area. (byg)