---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Dengan mengClick banner sponsor anda menyumbang Rp. 1000,- untuk HomePage IndoNews. ---------------------------------------------------------- Indonesian mob violence leaves seven dead, thousands homeless (ADDS more bodies found in Aceh, injuries in Maluku) JAKARTA, Feb 4 (AFP) - Fresh outbreaks of violence in Indonesia have left at least seven people dead and several wounded, and led thousands of people to flee their homes in panic, police and reports said Thursday. One man was killed and another seriously injured in fighting which erupted at Kampung Rambutan bus terminal in East Jakarta late Wednesday after a pickpocket was stopped by a bus crew from robbing a passenger. Associates of the thief hit back at a group of bus drivers before the drivers' associates, armed with knives and machetes, counter-attacked, police First Lieutenant Klinsen (eds: one name) said. Amid the fighting which sparked panic among thousands of commuters, stalls at the terminal were torched and several buses vandalised. "Today, Kampung Rambutan is in operation again, although there are few buses and it is much quieter than usual," Klinsen said Thursday. Soldiers and police were in force on standby at and near the terminal, witnesses said. In Idi Cut, East Aceh, at least one man was killed as security forces battled for more than three hours with 3,000 people returning from a rally on Wednesday, the Kompas daily said. Five more bodies were found in the nearby Arakundo river by late afternoon on Thursday, a resident in Langsa, the main town of the East Aceh district said. The resident said the bodies were weighed down with stones and had gunshot wounds and that over 1,000 people were searching the river for more bodies. A total of 15 people had gone missing since the shooting, the resident said. The clash erupted when police and soldiers tried to disperse the crowd chanting slogans in support of a free Aceh as they passed in front of the local military post. The resident in Langsa, 60 kilometres (40 miles) east of Idi Cut, supporters of a Free Aceh Islamic state held a rally and the crowd was yelling pro-Aceh Merdeka slogans when the clash broke out. East Aceh police chief Lieutenant Colonel R. Suminar was quoted by Kompas as saying one man was shot dead and two were wounded in the fighting. A total of 51 men were arrested. Suminar was visiting Idi Cut on Thursday, a member of his staff said, adding only that "the situation in Idi Cut has now come under control again." In Seram island, north of the Maluku island of Ambon which last month was the centre of days of violence that left 95 dead, seven people were injured and more than 1,100 fled their village in Kairatu sub-district after fighting Wednesday, the Antara news agency said. Kairatu is a busy town serving as the end point in Seram for ferries linking Seram island and Ambon island just to the south. But following the days of unrest mainly centered in Ambon island that began on January 19, shortages of fuel as well as fear of damage have drastically raised tensions. First police sergeant Iman Tafif in Masohi, the main town in Seram, said reinforcements had been sent to Kairatu, 20 kilometres (12 miles) west. "We have not yet received reports from Kairatu this day but I know that the team which left yesterday had difficulties entering the area where the fighting took place," Tafif said. The violence followed a brawl between two youths in which a house caught fire and the flames quickly spread to 19 nearby homes and a small market, sparking panic among the residents, some of whom came out armed with knives, machetes as well as bows and arrows, Antara said. bs/nj ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 5 Feb 1999 jam 04:51:13 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
