INDONESIA: ANTI - MILITARY PROTESTS IN ACEH

(4 Jan 1999) Indonesian/Nat

The death toll in anti-military riots this weekend in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh rose to at least nine on Monday.

One report says 13 people died, including two army officers.

Hundreds of troops were deployed in the town of Lhokseumawe on Monday and there were no reports of fresh violence.

The streets of Lhokseumawe, a center of Indonesia's oil and gas industry, are deserted after Sunday's conflict.

Violence erupted in Aceh after soldiers raided several buildings believed to house rebels who have been fighting for an independent Islamic state.

Furious residents attacked the security forces, who responded with gunfire.

Trouble has been brewing here after the military suspended a decade long campaign against rebels in the province and apologized for human rights abuses.

But the military conducted dawn raids in Lhokseumawe and arrested 132 people after villagers and suspected rebels killed seven soldiers and kidnapped two others last week.

Rioters burned at least 15 buildings, including police and military posts and local government offices.

The military had aimed to reduce tensions by ceding control of most security matters in Aceh to local community leaders, but that plan appears to be on hold for now.

Lhokseumawe was hit by anti-military riots several times in 1997.

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