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Malaysian capital hit by riots



  Ê 
      Malaysian capital hit by worst disturbances in three
      decades

      Mon 21 Sep 98 - 08:37 GMT 

      KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 (AFP) - The worst disturbances in three
decades rocked
      the Malaysian capital Monday as supporters of ousted government
number two Anwar
      Ibrahim clashed with riot police for the second day.

      Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse around 1,500
people outside the
      central court building, waiting for the 51-year-old former deputy
prime minister and
      finance minister to make an appearance.

      At least 50 people were detained during three hours of street
battles. One man running
      in the street brandishing a Malaysian flag was kicked and beaten as
he was hauled
      away.

      The clashes broke out about half a mile (0.75km) from Parliament
Square where Prime
      Minister Mohamad Mahathir and King Tuanku Jafaar were giving a
formal welcome to
      Britain's Queen Elizabeth II with a 21-gun salute.

      Outside the court, police repeatedly showered demonstrators with
water laced with a
      pepper-like additive. They fired three volleys of tear gas in a
first failed attempt to end
      the unrest that they have been desperate to keep away from the
queen.

      Tension surrounding the arrest of Anwar, who is now calling for the
downfall of
      Malaysia's veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad, has sparked the worst
unrest since May
      1969.

      Hundreds of people were killed in 1969 race riots between ethnic
Chinese and Malays,
      leading to the resignation of Malaysia's first prime minister Tunku
Abdul Rahman.

      Mahathir has ruled for 17 years with only one serious challenge to
his leadership in
      1987, but has never overseen scenes like this.

      The Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) police gave several warnings to the
Anwar supporters
      to clear shopping streets around the court building, which suddenly
filled with tear gas
      as the authorities' patience ran out.

      Most of the district's shops, mainly owned by ethnic Indians and
ethnic Chinese, closed
      fearing the clashes could turn against them. "It is for safety,"
said one store owner.

      Police acted after announcing that Anwar, who was detained
overnight, would not be
      appearing in court and had been held under the Internal Security Act
under which
      suspects can be held indefinitely without trial.

      The 50 detained people were herded into three trucks, but it was not
known what
      happened to them.

      After an officer shouted "this is the final warning," one water
cannon truck opened fire
      and the tear gas was let off. The court building was sealed off,
trapping lawyers and
      judges inside.

      During running clashes, the Anwar supporters waited in side-streets
for the police to fall
      back and then rushed back to shout "reform, reform" and "long live
Anwar."

      As a police helicopter hovered overhead police made new warnings for
the crowd to
      disperse through loudhailers. As the disturbances continued the
water cannon was used
      again.

      The scenes were similar to Sunday when around 10,000 Anwar
supporters broke off
      from a giant rally in Merdeka (Freedom) Square to march on the prime
minister's
      residence.

      Tear gas and water cannon were also used to break up the unrest,
which preceded
      Anwar's arrest when riot police raided his home.

                                                                  ©AFP
1998