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Antara, January 18, 2000

SECURITY CONDITIONS IN MATARAM BACK TO NORMAL, SAYS ARMY CHIEF

Jakarta, Jan 18 (ANTARA) - Army Chief of Staff General Tyas
Sudarto late Tuesday said security conditions in Mataram, Which
saw to days of violent riot since Monday, have now returned to
normal.

Security forces are now in full control of the situation in the
major city of the resort island of Lombok, he told reporters.

"Security forces handled the Mataram unrest well and I believe
it will be over soon," he said.

He said security personnel had also mounted a search for the
parties responsible for the riots in which ten palces of worship,
a yet unidentified number of shops and cars have either been
damaged or burned down.

Asked about possibility of outsiders having incited the people to
riot, he said that the security agencies were considering it.

"There is a such possibility because before the locals held a
mass rally calling for peace in Ambon, the situation in Mataram
was allright. Maybe there were provocateurs who caused the
gathering to turn into a riot. That's why we must be watchfull
againts the possible spill-over of the Mataram riots," he said.

Affan Gafar, an adviser to the Home Affairs Minister, meanwhile,
expressed regret about the Mataram unrest.

"It is very regretable that the unrest occured in a province
where the majority of the population is Moslem. This will
definitely tarnish Moslem' image. No religion allow any of its
adherents to destroy a place of worship," said Gafar, who is
native of West Nusa Tenggara.

He believed the Mataram unrest was the result of foot-dragging in
the settlement of the sectarian clashes in Maluku. But it also
was very likely the unrest was design to discredit the central
and religional administrations.

(T.KPU-01/KPE-03/5:30PM/NN01/21:25/INT-1JM-22:40/TB06)

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Didistribusikan tgl. 25 Jan 2000 jam 10:23:33 GMT+1
oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
http://www.Indo-News.com/
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