Military

DATE=10/26/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=INDONESIA VIOLENCE L ONLY

NUMBER=2-268462

BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN

DATELINE=JAKARTA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Violence has flared in the northern Indonesian province of Kalimantan, with at least one man hacked to death in a fight between locals and migrants from other parts of Indonesia. As Patricia NUNAN reports from Jakarta, witnesses say the situation in the area remains tense.

TEXT: Police fired blanks in an effort to stop fighting between two mobs - one made up of ethnic Malays from the island of Kalimantan, and the other - Indonesian settlers from the island of Madura.

But it was too late to prevent a mob from hacking to death one Madurese man, who had become separated from the group.

Witnesses say the city remained tense throughout the night of the killing, with mobs from both sides roaming the streets, carrying machetes, speaks, sickles, and swords. Some attacked passers-by and set fire to roadside stalls.

The city of Pontianak, the provincial capital of West Kalimantan is roughly 700 kilometers northeast of the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Its population is mostly ethnic Malay. But it is the site of a recent influx of migrants - mainly from Madura.

Last year, at least 260 people died and hundreds of homes were burned in clashes between the locals and new settlers - prompting tens of thousands of people to flee for the safety of refugee camps surrounding the city of Pontianak, where they have lived ever since.

Witnesses say the recent clash broke out after a minor traffic accident between an ethnic Malay and a Madurese.

Ethnic violence has been on the rise in Indonesia in the three and a half years since the collapse of the economy. Many times groups, which are indigenous to a specific area, become resentful of new arrivals, whom they see as competition for limited employment opportunities. (signed)

NEB/HK/PN/JO