Police to be firm on armed protesters

Police to be firm on armed protesters

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi said on
Tuesday that police officers would take stern measures against
people who brandish weapons during protests.

"Do not blame me if the police start to take strict action. We
cannot tolerate it anymore. Protesters must not carry weapons.
We'll do whatever it takes to secure the capital," Nurfaizi told
The Jakarta Post.

"We do not want to take harsh measures against our own
citizens. So do not push us."

The two-star general was referring to an incident at the House
of Representatives (DPR) complex on Monday, where some 1,000
members of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Forum revealed their plan
to leave for strife-torn Maluku later this month. The forum
members made their point verbally as well as by a show of force.

Wearing Muslim garb and headdress and carrying swords and
machetes, they arrived on buses and trucks. Despite appeals and
warnings from other quarters for the group to show restraint, the
organization stepped up pressure to send volunteers to Maluku to
stage a jihad and called for the removal of President Abdurrahman
Wahid from office.

Nurfaizi said National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo had
instructed the Jakarta Police and the West Java Police to work
together to overcome any problem arising from violent protests.

"I don't have to tell you what the police force has in mind in
when it comes to dealing with ugly situations should they arise
from these kinds of protests. What I can tell you is that we are
ready to deploy our police troops," Nurfaizi said.

"The police are here to secure the city for residents, not to
show off what we have in mind, and how will we go about it."

He added, however, that the way to handle such protests was
not with force.

"These (protesters) are emotional. If we immediately strike
out at them we could create a much bigger problem. We can't throw
fire at them, we'll use water. We (should) speak to them via
religious leaders and leaders of society," Nurfaizi said.

No interference

Separately, Army deputy chief Lt. Gen. Endriartono Sutarto
called on non-Maluku residents to refrain from interfering in the
Maluku unrest.

"Let the government settle the problem. I believe it will be
completely settled," he said as quoted by Antara on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters after attending a ceremony at Tanjung
Priok Port marking the sending of food aid to Aceh, Maluku,
Kalimantan and East Nusa Tenggara, he said any military-like
training, the aim of which was to create violence, would be
prohibited.

"Such training is only for self-defense purposes," he said,
and cited as an example Pencak Silat traditional martial arts,
which involves the use of sharp weapons in its exercises.

Protesters marched to the third-floor office of House Speaker
Akbar Tandjung on Monday. Some of them brandished swords, which
alarmed hundreds of workers of shoe company PT Kong Tai who have
been protesting in the House building for several weeks.

The group's so-called commander Jaffar Umar Thalib demanded
during the meeting with Akbar that the House initiate the
constitutional process to impeach the President for making
controversial statements.

The group was particularly offended by the President remarking
last week that Muslims in Maluku had received special treatment
from the government over the last 30 years or so and that this in
turn had frustrated Christians there, causing conflict between
the two communities.

Forum chairman Ayip Syafruddin Soeratman announced after the
meeting that the volunteers would still travel to Maluku after
completing their training this month, irrespective of the appeals
and warnings against their plan.

"If we cannot go, then we will conduct our jihad on Java,"
Ayip said. "We will attack Christians, who are most responsible
for what is happening in Ambon," he said.

Some 3,000 volunteers of the group are currently training in a
camp in Kayumanis district in Bogor. (ylt/imn)