Six killed, 8 injured in latest riots

JAKARTA (JP): At least six people were killed and eight others injured, five by gun fire, and seven churches were torched in the latest riots sparked by clashes between rival ethnic and religious groups on Jl. KH. Zainul Arifin in the Ketapang area, West Jakarta, on Sunday.

Five of the dead victims were identified as Jakartans of Ambonese descent, while the injured included two soldiers -- Central Jakarta military district commander Lt. Col. S. Widodo and one of his guards.

Truckloads of troops, armored personnel carriers, fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the scene around Gajah Mada Plaza, but failed to control the riots from spreading to other areas in the downtown area until late in the evening.

The bloody strife was triggered by a brawl between local residents and civilian guards, mostly of Ambonese descent, of a games hall -- which residents alleged was a gambling den -- near a mosque in the Ketapang area.

The brawl could have been settled amicably by the intervention of local community leaders and security personnel on Saturday night.

But rumors claiming that the mosque was set on fire by an Ambonese gang later made the local residents angry, their fury later exploding into ethnic and religious riots on Sunday, Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen Djadja Suparman told reporters.

"Upon hearing that a mosque had been attacked, at 7 a.m. on Sunday people from Tanah Abang, Petamburan and Jembatan Besi immediately came here to show their solidarity. They later marched to the Ketapang 11 amusement center and burned down the facility at about 9 a.m.," Lukman, a local community leader, said.

Faced by the heavy military presence, the mobs went on a rampage in areas far from the site, pelting stones at buildings, including churches, they passed by.

Rioting flared up on Jl. Gajah Mada, Jl. Hasyim Ashari, Jl. Sukarjo Wiryopranoto and Jl. KH. Samanhudi, where six other churches and three banks and one hotel were damaged," city police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said.

Quoting data compiled by city police headquarters as of 8 p.m. last night, Aritonang said two rooms of Santa Ursula school near the Catholic Cathedral in Central Jakarta were gutted and several classrooms were damaged.

Thirteen vehicles, including 11 cars, were burned, while six others, including five cars, were damaged, according to Aritonang.

The seven torched churches include Kristus Jemaat Ketapang and Pantekosta on Jl. KH. Zainul Arifin, Santapan Rohani on Jl. Samanhudi and Kristus Raja on Jl. Hasyim Ashari.

The six damaged churches include PNIL and Yesus Sejati on Jl. KH Samanhudi and GKPI on Jl. Kartini Raya.

At about 5:10 p.m. soldiers and police officers managed to drive away the masses gathered in front of Gajah Mada Plaza. About 60 Ambonese security guards were evacuated by military trucks from the area to the city military command.

A mob of hundreds then marched in the direction of the cathedral and tried to torch the Catholic church, but their path was blocked and they were dispersed by soldiers stationed there. The mobs then ransacked the nearby Ursula school building.

Another mob numbering between 400 and 500 people marched along Jl. KH Samanhudi later in the afternoon, destroying churches and passing vehicles.

The soldiers stationed there were apparently outnumbered by the masses, many of them coming from the Gajah Mada area where the riots started.

When the mobs were about to enter Jl. Gunung Sahari, however, they were blocked by local residents, who had assembled along the road and were standing guard with members of the marines.

The downtown area remained under heavy security Sunday night and no new clashes or riots were reported.

Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur, chairman of the Nahdatul Ulama Moslem organization, and Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairperson of the popular faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party, separately issued statements Sunday night condemning the riots and calling on people to remain calm.

Gus Dur and Megawati noted that the riots once again testified to how a gang of thugs could easily be used by certain parties with vested interests to cause massive riots. (ind/ivy/emf/edt/afs)