---------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe?, send your mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body mail: "signoff indonews" need more help?, send your mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body mail: "info refcard" ---------------------------------------------------------- New unrest in Indonesian riot city (ADDS police comments, details of other violence) by Bhimanto Suwastoyo JAKARTA, Feb 2 (AFP) - Indonesian security forces fired warning shots but could not stop new violence and looting Tuesday in the city of Ambon, where at least 65 people were killed in religious clashes last month, residents said. The latest troubles erupted as a group of ministers arrived in the eastern city from Jakarta to assess the widespread damage left by more than five days of troubles last month between the Moslem and Christian communities. "Looting broke out near the Mardika market, and warnings shots were fired but the crowd appeared to be unfazed and the looting continued," a resident told AFP from Ambon. The resident said shops and business immediately closed and public transport disappeared from the streets after the trouble started just after midday. "It is once again a dead city, nobody is out on the streets again. I myself do not dare to go to the market today," she said. Police said the troubles had been ended though. An assistant to Maluku the province police chief said that the incident had been halted and Ambon was under control. Hundreds of troops and police were sent to Ambon after the last disturbances. "There was no looting, it was purely a misunderstanding and calm and order have now been reestablished," the assistant said. Maluku police chief Colonel Karyono was at Ambon airport to meet the incoming ministers, the assitant said. President B.J. Habibie on Monday instructed six ministers to visit Ambon to assess the damage and start organising assistance to rebuild the city that he once held up as a model of the religious harmony that was possible in Indonesia. The provincial capital was hit by at least five days of unrest that started on January 19 following a dispute between a migrant Moslem and a Christian public transport driver. The dispute degenerated into unrest opposing Moslems and Christians. It spread to other islands within Maluku, leaving at least 65 dead and widespread destruction. Mardika market was burned during riots and a makeshift market had developed around it. The resident said she had heard that at least two people were injured during attacks by groups in the city on Tuesday. "One official of the social affairs ministry was pursued by a group of men into his office in Karang Panjang and was slashed with a machete by his attackers. He is now at the hospital," she said. She said that another case concerned a motorcycle rider who was slashed by attackers in the Batumerah area. The injured man was also rushed to the hospital. The two incidents could not be confirmed with the authorities or the hospital. bs/tw ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 2 Feb 1999 jam 09:46:39 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
