Reuters
20-JUL-98
SURABAYA, Indonesia, July 20 (Reuters)- Angry mobs in Indonesia's
East Java have attacked shops and homes owned by Moslems they
accuse of supporting ethnic Chinese traders, religious sources and
residents said on Monday.
In the provincial capital Surabaya, more ethnic Chinese were reported
fleeing amid fears of further violence. Dozens were said to have left from
the local airport, with some reported heading for Hong Kong and others
to Singapore.
``Anonymous telephone calls have made me scared,'' one ethnic
Chinese trader, who asked not to be identified, said before he left for
the Indonesian island of Bali.
Residents said a number of Chinese-owned shops in Surabaya have
been closed in recent days after rumours of imminent violence towards
them. Others are selling goods cheap to liquidate stocks and obtain
cash, they said.
Locals said a crowd of about 200 people drove through the Mumbulsari,
Silo and Kencong sub-districts in the Jember regency, 150 km (92
miles) southeast of Surabaya, late on Sunday and early on Monday,
threatening Moslem leaders who had expressed concern over recent
attacks on Chinese.
Residents said the crowd set three shops belonging to Moslems on fire,
but there was no word of injuries.
In the past few weeks, ethnic Chinese-owned shops in the strongly
Islamic Jember district have suffered a number of attacks, and Chinese
traders have sought help from local Moslem leaders.
One Moslem preacher in the district said mobs of people from outside
the district attacked his house late on Sunday, accusing him of
supporting Chinese rather than Moslems.
``They shouted 'The preachers should be defending Islamic followers but
they are instead defending the Chinese','' preacher Imam Harromain
said.
Another preacher in Selo, Mustofa, who owned a shop in the Kencong
village, was also intimidated by the unknown crowd, local residents said.
``They drove around the village shouting 'The preachers are
anti-Moslem, they support the Chinese','' one resident said.
A crowd also threatened Nurhaimi, another community leader in
Kencong, who is linked to an Islamic boarding school where Chinese
who recently fled their homes after attacks were offered shelter, one
resident said.
Military officials in the district refused to comment on the incidents but
have pledged to protect all citizens. The officials said there was no need
for anybody to flee from the smaller villages to the larger towns for
protection.
Chinese have been fleeing East Java for days after alleged intimidation
and ahead of Indonesia's independence day on August 17. One local
religious leader has said violence against Chinese would increase
ahead of the nationalist celebration.
Ethnic Chinese were particular targets of the rioting that ravaged several
Indonesian towns in May ahead of the resignation of former president
Suharto amid Indonesia's worst economic crisis in decades.
The worst rioting occurred in Jakarta where almost 1,200 people were
killed and the city's Chinatown district was left scarred by looting and
arson attacks on hundreds of shops and buildings. Human rights groups
say scores of ethnic Chinese women were systematically raped during
the riots.
Tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese fled Indonesia in the wake of the
riots and many have not yet returned.
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