Military continues hunt for Banjarmasin rioters

Military continues hunt for Banjarmasin rioters

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan (JP): The military here prepared
for today's general election yesterday by tightening security and
continuing its crackdown on suspected rioters.

Tanjungpura Military Commander Maj. Gen. Namoeri Anoem S. said
yesterday afternoon the crackdown was necessary in order to
secure the election.

"We are continuing it. Please pray that (the crackdown) will
be finished soon," Namoeri told reporters. The general also said
that security personnel had arrested 181 rioters and would
probably make more arrests. All of the suspected ringleaders were
already in police custody, he said.

However, acting provincial police spokesman Lt. Col. Kusbini
Imbar could not confirm any new arrests or the confiscation of
sharp weapons.

"I haven't received any report about that," he said.

He also said that only 106 of the 181 people originally
rounded up during the riot were still in police custody, adding
that some of these would soon be released due to lack of
evidence.

A 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew is still in effect in the town that
witnessed the worst political violence of the election campaign.

One hundred and twenty-three people died during rioting that
left widespread destruction across the city.

It was sparked by clashes between Golkar supporters roaming
the city streets on the last day of campaigning, and a crowd who
were reportedly enraged because Golkar had started campaigning
before Friday prayers had finished.

Hundreds of buildings, including houses, shops, supermarkets,
cinemas, churches and hotels, were either damaged or set ablaze
by the rioters in what residents recalled "eight hours of
anarchy".

Security personnel, who were greatly outnumbered by the
estimated 50,000 rioters, could do little to stop the riot until
reinforcements arrived from outside the province at about
midnight.

State Minister/Cabinet Secretary Saadilah Mursjid, who visited
the riot victims yesterday, said President Soeharto had ordered
that the rioters be handled in "the usual way." He did not
specify.

Saadilah, who had been scheduled to be the keynote speaker at
a Golkar rally in the town Friday, managed to escape from the
Kalimantan Hotel before it was burned by the rioters.

The 123 bodies found in two buildings burned by the rioters,
including 121 bodies on the second story of the town's largest
shopping center, Mitra Plaza, were looters, police believe.

A fact-finding team sent by the National Commission on Human
Rights is scheduled to arrive here today.

Banjarmasin mayor Sadjoko told reporters yesterday only five
bodies had been identified. But National Police Chief Lt. Gen.
Dibyo Widodo said in Jakarta there were 15 recognizable bodies.

Sadjoko said the unrecognized bodies would be buried tomorrow
in a mass grave, while those already recognized would be buried
in separate graves.

The bodies would be buried in accordance with Islamic
tradition, "since all of them were thought to be Moslems," said
the mayor.

South Kalimantan's population is more than 90 percent Moslem.
(jsk)