Students fail to meet mayor

BANDUNG: Twenty students, who said they represented a solidarity committee for the local sidewalk vendors, failed in their bid to meet the city mayor yesterday to express their sympathy for the victims of the recent riot which involved traders and pedicab drivers.

The students said police officers and mayoralty guards had barred them from approaching the mayor's office.

A spokesman for the students told the Antara news agency that officers had herded them into the office of the city social and political affairs, where they were told "the mayor is too busy to receive you."

On Thursday last week thousands of sidewalk vendors and pedicab drivers held a protest rally over the rumored death of a pedicab driver in a clash with security officers.

The rumor was later proven false. The officers had been conducting an operation to clamp down on pedicab drivers and sidewalk vendors.