FIVE KILLED AS JAKARTA POLICE FIRE

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FIVE KILLED AS JAKARTA POLICE FIRE INTO CROWD
13.5.98/BANGKOK POST
AP

JAKARTA- Riot police fired into a crowd of protesters, killing five
students in the capital Tuesday as anti-government demonstrations
intensified around the country, witnesses said.

Officials at a  Jakarta morgue confirmed the deaths, while doctors
said "many others had been wounded. They declined-to give further
details.

The killings, outside Trisakti University in central Jakarta,
follow more than a week of intense anti-government protests.

The deaths are likely to increase pressure on President Suharto to
yield to demands that he reform Indonesia's beleaguered economy and
political system as the country of 200 million battles its worst
financial crisis in three decades.

Witnesses said police had chased protesters through the streets,
firing shots into the air and at least 10 rounds into the crowd of
several thousand.

Others said police had fired continuously for several minutes after
students beat up an undercover intelligence agent sent to spy on
them.

Police later clubbed students and journalists as they fled the
scene, clogging rush-hour traffic. Bystanders joined the student
protesters who hurled rocks at the police.

It was unclear whether police had fired live ammunition or
plastic-coated bullets. Many students were also overcome by
tear-gas.

Hundreds of police surrounded the campus after nightfall as weeping
relatives identified the dead at the morgue at Sumber Waras
Hospital.

"I know he did not take part in any demonstration. Why did it
happen to him?" the mother of one of the dead screamed as others
tried to console her.

Senior security personnel said there were no official reports of
casualties and declined to comment further.

Warning shots were also fired into the air in Bandung, 120
kilometres east of the capital.

Earlier in the day police fired into the air and then clubbed
protesters during a face-off between 600 demonstrators and about
500 anti-riot personnel.

One student at Bandung University of Technology yelled in protest
as a soldier twisted his arm and whacked him repeatedly over the
head. Five protesters, including a female student and a taxi
driver, both bleeding from the head, were rushed to a nearby
hospital.

Police in Kupang, 1,875 km east of the capital, fired tear-gas and
plastic-coated bullets at a crowd of 300 students, injuring at
least two.

The students, from two universities hurled stones at a
local-government building as they yelled: "Democracy is dead!"

Months of protests intensified last week after the government
announced a new round of austerity measures to help overcome
Indonesia's worst economic crisis in three decades.

With the size and frequency of demonstrations gaining momentum,
Amien Rais, leader of Indonesia's second-largest Muslim
organisation, urged the military to exercise restraint.

Students rallied on at least six Jakarta campuses, demanding an end
to President Suharto's 32-year rule.

Suharto, who is attending a conference of leaders from developing
nations in Egypt, warned last week that security forces would use
force to quell violent protests against the government.

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THAIS URGE SUHARTO TO STEP DOWN
13.5.98/BANGKOK POST
REUTERS

SEVERAL Thai political activists yesterday protested briefly
outside the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok, demanding an end to
violence against anti-government protesters in Indonesia.

About a dozen activists from several rights organisations
demonstrated peacefully for about 30 minutes. They charged people
were being arrested, abducted, tortured and killed in Indonesia,
where the economic crisis is worsening.

A joint statement issued by six groups, including the Asian Forum
for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia), demanded Asean
governments start a dialogue with Indonesia on the issue.

"Stop the killings in Indonesia. The mass killings suffered by
Indonesian peoples in 1965 must not be replicated in the 1990s,"
the statement said.

"We also demand that Asean governments meet and discuss
recommendations put forth in an effort to resolve the current
political and economic problems in Indonesia," it said.

"We will continue to pressure the Indonesian government until
president Suharto resigns," Chalida Tajharoensuk, programme
co-ordinator of Forum Asia, said

Indonesia and Thailand are both members of the Association of South
East Asian Nations along with Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. 

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