---------------------------------------------------------- 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" ---------------------------------------------------------- 1,000 migrants flee Indonesia's Ambon for fear of further unrest (ADDS ministers' planned visit to Ambon) JAKARTA, Feb 1 (AFP) - At least 1,000 people have fled Indonesia's riot-torn city of Ambon for fear of further unrest after days of Christian-Moslem clashes in which 65 people were killed, the Jakarta Post said Monday. It said the people, including 219 children, were originally migrants from elsewhere in Indonesia. They arrived at Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi by ship on Sunday under tight military security. Local military commander Lieutenant Colonel Widjanarko was quoted as saying that at least 100 security personnel were deployed. Troops were seen guarding seaport entrances and the shipping line office, the Post said. An official of the port administration at the Yos Sudarso seaport in Ambon told AFP that only old people had left Ambon city on the island of the same name for their original homes in South Sulawesi. "They left Ambon to escape tension after days of rioting. But they will return because their children are still here," said the employee, who identified herself as Lena. Lena, herself a migrant from Ujungpandang and a Christian, said one of her cousins was killed in the riots. But she said the situation in Ambon city had returned to normal with shops and offices open. The Post said migrants from South Sulawesi had left businesses and new homes in different parts of the country because of rioting, including areas of Kupang and Irian Jaya in eastern Indonesia. The violence in Ambon, which erupted on the Eid al-Fitr Moslem holiday on January 19, was sparked by a dispute between a Moslem migrant and a local Christian public transport driver. President B.J. Habibie has instructed six ministers to visit Ambon to assess the damage caused by unrest. "We have been tasked to check the damage. It is absolutely not a pleasure trip," said Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare and Poverty Alleviation, Haryono Suyono. Haryono said priority should be given to repairing housing and economic facilities, including market and government offices. He said the government would help more than 100 pedicab drivers who lost their vehicles during the riots to acquire new ones and would assist people who cannot afford to rebuild their damaged house. In other unrest, three people were shot and wounded as security forces tried to recover teakwood looted by villagers from state-owned estates in the Central Java district of Pemalang, reports and police said Monday. They were shot after thousands of villagers felled 1,000 teak trees in the Bantarbolang sub-district in Pemalang and attacked three houses belonging to the state-owned Perhutani teak estate company on Saturday, the Suara Karya daily said. The head of Pemalang police, Lieutenant Colonel Isnarto (Eds: one name), declined to confirm the shooting. "I will give further explanation on the incident in a few days," Isnarto told AFP. He said the incident began after Perhutani forest rangers and police began to collect trees that had been illegally felled by villagers. "We were gathering the logs when villagers barred our way. We have been able to disperse the villagers," Isnarto said. He attributed the looting to the current economic crisis and said villagers might have been imitating teakwood looting in other areas. Looting of private and public property, including coffee and teak plantations, fish and shrimp ponds and rice fields and rice stocks, has been increasing since last year amid the economic crisis. tn/bs/sm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 2 Feb 1999 jam 09:52:15 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
