Soldiers on dead alert

Soldiers on dead alert

JAKARTA: Troops jealously guarding vital government offices around the National Monument stopped a funeral procession, which they mistook for a Golkar rally because the mourners carried yellow flags.

A brief argument occurred before the mourners could convince the soldiers that the coffin contained a real corpse and they were not student demonstrators protesting controversial government policies.

"We are not demonstrating, Sir. Just look at what is inside the coffin," a relative of the deceased told the riot troops.

The procession was on the way from the Hayam Wuruk area near the Bina Graha presidential office to Tanah Kusir Cemetery in South Jakarta when the alert soldiers stopped it.

In a show of sympathy, the soldiers were kind enough to use one of their armored vehicles parked near the defense ministry to escort the funeral procession through the traffic in the area, Antara reported.

Apparently, good luck was with the deceased along the way. When the procession confronted an unruly United Development Party street rally, the party supporters stopped and gave way to it. (pan)