Jakarta to put new security laws on hold

AFTER TWO days of bloody protests, the Indonesian army backed down on implementing a Draconian security Bill last night that would give it even more say in running the country. But the concession may only serve to encourage student activists who fought running battles with troops in central Jakarta throughout the day.

"We're seeing this through to the end," said one protester, in a Karl Marx T-shirt taking a break in the campus of Atma Jaya Catholic University. "That means a complete change of government and the military under a civilian leadership."

The day started with one student shot in the head by police and continued with volleys of rifle-fire as riot troops kept pushing demonstrators back. The commercial district of Jakarta, once heralded as a model of the Asian miracle, was a battleground of rocks, tear-gas petrol bombs - and live ammunition.

The chief army spokesman, Major-General Sudradjat, said: "The people on the streets are barbarians and criminals. They do not represent the people of Indonesia. They are there to cause trouble and burn cars."

By mid-afternoon, the government sent its own demonstrators into the crowds to create confusion - as if more confusion was needed. Uniformed Islamic activists said they were there to protect the troops. Then mobs appeared with slogans more akin to the militia threats in East Timor.

"Go back! Go back!" someone shouted. "It's not safe."Then the mood became clear: "Australian! Australian! Get out of here!", and a pack of motorcyclists with bandanas and clenched fists converged on us. "Timor! Timor!"

We back-pedalled to a nearby hotel, climbing over barbed wire barricades, and the staff bundled us inside.

Half an hour later, in a sustained volley of live fire, the troops advanced up Sudirman Road, sending the protesters running and gaining perhaps two hundred yards.

The Bill that set off the protests gave the President powers to declare a state of emergency in a "situation where the state is in danger because of a rebel group and/or part of the country declaring its separation from the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia".

It was regarded as an olive branch from President Habibie to the military after the humiliation of allowing a multi-national force into East Timor.

"The military cannot bring modernity to Indonesia," said Dr Soedjati Djiwandono, of the Research Centre for Democracy and Peace. "The students want a complete change of the system. Nothing else will be enough. What is happening is unprecedented and unless this crisis is halted, Singapore, Malaysia and the whole of South-east Asia will be destabilised." By nightfall, there was no sign that the shelving of the Bill would bring a long-term solution to the pressure for full democracy in Indonesia.

Hour by hour yesterday, as the army fired live ammunition on unarmed demonstrators and casualties mounted, Indonesia was on trial to retain its position within the international community. Whatever ground it might have gained internationally by letting UN troops into East Timor, it was losing on the streets of Jakarta.

Humphrey Hawksley is a BBC World Affairs correspondent