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Faster access in Asia

Death toll rises in riot-torn Jakarta; Suharto to reshuffle Cabinet

In This Story:

May 16, 1998
Web posted at: 4:44 a.m. EDT (0844 GMT)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- As rioting spread from the capital to other Indonesian cities Saturday, the death toll from social unrest grew when more than 100 bodies were pulled out of a western Jakarta shopping mall, two days after it was set ablaze by a rioting mob, security officials said.

Also on Saturday, President Suharto was quoted as reiterating his willingness to step down -- if that's the will of the Indonesian people. The 76-year-old Suharto also plans to reshuffle his Cabinet, speaker of Parliament Harmoko said after meeting with the president. Most Indonesians are likely to see such a move as purely cosmetic.

Four days of rioting and lawlessness have wrecked the capital with student protesters calling on President Suharto to resign after 32 years of autocratic rule. A series of fires set by rioters throughout Jakarta have resulted in the deaths of hundreds, many of them looters trapped inside the buildings when they were set ablaze.

The smell of smoke from the fires hung heavy in the air Saturday morning as security forces patrolled the streets with orders to shoot at unruly mobs. In the Kreo section of western Jakarta, one 3-mile (5-km) stretch was a non-stop scene of burned out shops and broken glass.

A large column of armored vehicles lined Jakarta's main boulevard even as relative calm descended on the city. Tanks and other military vehicles along with squads of soldiers were deployed across the city. Suharto also rolled back some of the government-ordered price increases that had so inflamed the poor.

Dozens of people lined up outside one major bank that remained open in hopes of withdrawing their savings on Saturday. Angry mobs have targeted banks on their looting sprees.

Rioting spreads to other cities

Even as the social unrest appeared to ease in the capital, the rioting of the past several days spread to other cities, including the second-largest city in the country, Surabaya.

The Jakarta Post reported that "a demonstration of thousands of people degenerated into an orgy of large-scale rioting, burning and looting" in Surabaya on Friday.

Thousands of university students marched through the Surabaya city center, at one point occupying the state-run radio station and broadcasting their demands for political reform.

As has been the case throughout the week, some people, believed to be non-students, attacked and looted a shopping area. They also burned down the office of the only showroom of the Timor car, the troubled automobile project run by one of Suharto's sons.

The Jakarta Post also reported unrest in the major cities of Bandar Lampung and Palembang on Friday.

Witnesses said there was widespread destruction in the central Javanese city of Solo, after mobs swept through town Friday. Stores in the university town of Yogyakarta were closed Saturday as owners feared a return of violence there.

Suharto meets with university presidents

Suharto met Saturday with university presidents and was quoted as saying for the third time in a week that he's willing to quit if the people demand it.

"Any time, if the people want me to step down, I am ready to resign, as long it is conducted constitutionally," Budi Santoso, the head of the University of Indonesia, quoted Suharto as saying during the meeting.

Critics say the constitutional method of replacing the president could take months or more, because of Suharto's control of the Indonesian political system.

Legions of university students have taken to the streets in dozens of protests over the last three months.

International evacuations intensify

Expatriates were leaving the country in droves Saturday as the reality of the spiraling crisis set in. About 800 Americans and Canadians, mostly women, children and the elderly, were escorted in convoys of buses from assembly points in the city to board special planes to Singapore and Bangkok from a military airport.

Several countries have increased the number of charter flights leaving Indonesia. Japanese airlines added as many as 12 extra flights out of Jakarta to assist in the evacuation of the estimated 20,000 Japanese living in Indonesia. Australia, which estimates it has approximately the same number of citizens living there, has set up charter flights out of the country. Australia has also offered to extend visitor visas for Indonesians afraid to return to their country.

The main international airport was packed with people awaiting commercial flights to anywhere to escape the menace of anti-government mobs throughout the country.

Indonesia is struggling to cope with its worst economic and political crisis in decades, and sharp increases in the prices of basic goods and services last week have further impoverished ordinary Indonesians. Anger spilled over into the streets Tuesday after police shot and killed six anti-government protesters at a student rally.

The austerity measures were a condition of the International Monetary Fund's $43 billion aid package to bail out the southeast Asian nation.

Some fear death toll could climb as high as 400

Community leaders and witnesses feared the death toll from four shopping mall fires Friday could climb to about 400 as more charred remains are pulled from the disaster sites. However, the exact number of victims will probably never be known.

Officials were considering staging a mass funeral on Monday for bodies burned beyond recognition.

The toll from the fires adds to the deaths of at least another 24 people, including four soldiers, killed in clashes between rioters and security forces this week.

Suharto held a series of emergency meetings Friday before announcing cuts to fuel price hikes. Still, that might not be enough to stop demands for him to step aside after 32 years in power.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

 
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