Protesters target Australian Embassy again
Protesters target Australian Embassy again
JAKARTA (JP): The Australian Embassy was kept alert again on
Wednesday when two groups of some 100 angry Indonesians held
protests in front of the embassy compound in South Jakarta.
Police kept security tight and there were no serious
incidents.
The first group of at least 40 members from the United Islamic
Reform Movement (GRIT) demanded Canberra treat Indonesians
staying in Australia properly.
The Muslim protesters wanted the Australian government and its
people to stop blaming the Indonesian public for events in East
Timor.
"We urge the Australian government not to blame the Indonesian
people for what has been happening in East Timor," GRIT's
coordinator Muhammad Abudan said.
"How many Indonesian people have so far been harassed in
Australia? Here, only a few Australians have experienced similar
intimidation," Abudan explained.
He urged the Australian government to respect Asian values,
saying that Australia is not in Europe and that it should
therefore respect the feelings of its Asian neighbors.
The second group of 50 people calling themselves the Committee
of Student and Youth Action (Kampud) hung a black banner reading
"Crush Australia" in front of the embassy to express their
resentment at what they termed Australian interference in
Indonesia's internal affairs.
"We urge the Australian government to apologize to the
Indonesian government," Kampud coordinator Edy Chumaidi told the
media.
The protesters also urged Interfet commander Maj. Gen. Peter
Cosgrove to make sure that his 8,000 personnel remain neutral in
performing their tasks, especially when disarming proautonomy
militiamen.
The protesters had prepared car tires to set alight, but
security personnel removed the tires before they could do so.
The demonstrators yelled at the security officers to return
their tires, but to no avail.
Afterward, two of the demonstrators took off their shirts and
burned the garments instead.
In Semarang, 150 members of Pemuda Pancasila youth
organization also staged an anti-Australia protest in front of
the Central Java Council later in the day.
The protesters claimed that about 80,000 of its members in the
province were ready to fight the Australian-led troops in East
Timor.
"We're ready to die defending our country. We won't let
foreign troops walk freely all over East Timor. It is still part
of Indonesia," said Rahmat, chairman of the organization's
Central Java branch. (03/edt/bsr)