Tension remains in violence-hit Sampit

Tension remains in violence-hit Sampit

JAKARTA (JP): Clashes continued in Sampit, East Kotawaringin
regency, Central Kalimantan, on Friday, with the death toll from
the ethnic violence rising to over 100.

Military and police reinforcements continue to be deployed in
the regency, while thousands of Madurese refugees prepare to
leave the area for East Java aboard Navy ships.

National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro, who was in
Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Friday to inaugurate members of the
Narcotics Bureau, conceded that "generally, the violence is still
raging in Sampit".

Surojo said a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew had been imposed and
urged residents to obey the curfew.

The Navy decided on Friday to send a second ship to the area.
The KRI Teku Ende-517 was deployed from Surabaya, East Java, and
will join the KRI Teluk Sampit-515 in evacuating refugees.

The two ships are expected to arrive in Samuda, about 40
kilometers south of Sampit, on Friday evening.

Estimates on the number of refugees in Sampit vary, with
Antara putting the figure at 12,000 sheltering at the local
council office and police and military headquarters.

As of Friday no less than 80 people were being detained by
police on charges of arson and vandalism, while 38 were being
held on suspicion of murder, Surojo said.

"The suspects came from both warring camps (of Dayaks and
Madurese)," Surojo said.

Sampit Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Petrus Hardono said the
latest death toll stood at 91, however, he added that this figure
could go much higher "since dozens of bodies have still not been
removed from the streets".

"The death toll may reach over 100 as we are still trying to
locate more victims and remove them," Petrus said.

The violence in the small Central Kalimantan city erupted on
Sunday morning and spread to surrounding areas in the following
days.

Kalimantan has seen recurrent episodes of ethnic violence in
recent years. Thousands are believed to have died in 1997 during
ethnic clashes in Sambas regency, West Kalimantan.

The latest episode was in December, when at least four died in
several days of fighting between Dayaks and Madurese in Central
Kalimantan, while 11 people were killed in similar clashes in the
West Kalimantan capital of Pontianak in October.

The current violence in Sampit again pits migrant Madurese
against local Dayaks.

East Kotawaringin Regent Wahyudi K. Anwar urged on Friday
local Dayak tribal leaders to end the violence. "These atrocities
must stop; no more deaths."

Local journalists said dozens of headless corpses were
discovered along Jl. S. Parman, which is located directly behind
the regent's official residence.

"(The situation) became tenser in the afternoon and those
bodies have not yet been removed," a local journalist said as
quoted by Antara.

Based on their records, hospital officials have put the death
toll at 134.

At last count no fewer than 168 houses have been damaged and
76 gutted by mobs since Sunday.

In Jakarta, the head of the National Police's General
Information Service, Sr. Comr. Timbul Sianturi, said police have
arrested three men, identified only as Fd, Lw and In, who is an
official of the local forestry office, who are believed to be
masterminds of the riot.

The three men are reported to have paid Rp 20 million to six
men to provoke the clashes in a bid to retain their civil service
posts.

In Surabaya, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung
urged Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri to help resolve the
violence in Sampit.

"The Sampit case must be the top priority for Megawati, and
since President Abdurrahman Wahid is already away on a foreign
trip she will be assisted by law enforcers. I believe she can do
the job well," Akbar said as quoted by Antara.

Akbar warned that "if the Sampit case is not resolved, it will
have a negative impact on prospective foreign investors who wish
to conduct business in Kalimantan".

"Footage of people getting their heads chopped off will scare
people away," he said. (27/edt/jun)