Police stop protest outside U.S. embassy

Police stop protest outside U.S. embassy

JAKARTA (JP): Police yesterday foiled an attempt by students
to stage a demonstration outside the American Embassy here,
dispersing the group before they had a chance to make their
statement.

About 40 students from the Islamic University of Bandung, West
Java, marched to the embassy on Jl. Merdeka Selatan carrying
banners condemning Washington for its decision to impose a
comprehensive economic embargo on Iran.

But police officers moved in and confiscated the banners and
posters before the protesters had time to unfurl them.

"We don't care about your political statement. You are
disturbing the traffic, so move on," a police officer told the
students as he gave them the march order.

The students however managed to slip a prepared statement to
an embassy security officer.

The statement, which was made available to the press, demanded
that Washington lift its economic embargo against Iran. It also
demanded that a United Nations economic embargo against Iraq and
Libya be removed.

It also called for the lifting of an arms embargo against the
predominantly Moslem Bosnia-Herzegovina to allow the people there
to defend themselves in their civil war with the Serbs and
Croats.

The students, who said they were affiliated with the
Association of Moslem University Students, accused Washington of
abusing its political clout through its foreign policies, which,
they said, inflict suffering on people in developing countries.

They accused the United States of being an arrogant super
power that is using the United Nations to serve its interests,
especially in the Middle East.

They also demanded that the U.S. government be more fair in
viewing the Third World and to stop discrediting the Moslem
world. (yns)