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Armed militia group trains
outside Jakarta
JAKARTA - An armed Indonesian
civilian group had held military training exercises outside
Jakarta, the country's top security minister said yesterday.
Coordinating Minister for Political
and Security Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Jakarta police chief
Inspector-General Makbul Padmanegara had sent him a report
detailing the recent activities of the group. But Mr Susilo said
he could not reveal the group's identity and motives as
investigations were proceeding.
'Although their training ground was
held outside of Jakarta, it is necessary to check whether it
correlates with (political and security) developments in Jakarta.
They had used military supplies,' he said.
It appeared the developments
referred to were a series of bomb attacks in Jakarta during the
past month. Two bombs have detonated, injuring six people, while
two others were found before exploding.
Militia groups were used by the
army to boost security during the legislative assembly session in
1998.
However, they came under strong
criticism from human rights groups when the government used
125,000 civilians - many of them from groups with reputations for
thuggery - in clashes with pro-democracy students that year which
left 15 people dead and more than 400 injured. --AFP
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