Habibie stalls amid bloody protests
Alarmed by another day of clashes along Jakarta's main road, Indonesian President Bacharuddin Habibie last night delayed signing a controversial security bill, risking a backlash from the military.
'The Government has proposed [the delay] to President Habibie and the President agreed,' a military spokesman said. 'The delay is to allow the dissemination of information on the bill so that people will be able to understand and accept it.' At least four youths and one policeman have been killed in the demonstrations, which began after the law was passed on Thursday, continued through the night at the Atma Jaya University and were still under way last night. Protests were held in several other cities.
Many more - students and hospital sources said 100, police said 39 - were wounded.
Critics fear the legislation, initiated by the military, will give troops too much leeway to use force in an emergency.
Much of central Jakarta was paralysed as residents, youths and students engaged in pitched battles against police and troops in the worst unrest seen in the capital in almost a year.
The soldiers were joined at one point by 2,500 white-robed, machete-wielding members of the pro-Habibie militant group, the Front for Defenders of Islam, causing crowds to flee into the lobbies of banks and office buildings.
Unlike Thursday's protests, yesterday's was not focused on the Parliament, nor was it led by student groups. Instead, scattered groups of residents gathered to let out their own frustrations on the military apparatus.
