ANTARA, 06/29/07 12:51
Dancing separatists startle President Yudhoyono
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Police swooped on 20 separatist protesters in eastern
Indonesia's Maluku province Friday when they danced and unfurled a separatist flag in
front of the president, reports and police said.
The protestors started dancing during a speech by the provincial governor at an official
ceremony in the provincial capital of Ambon, where a separatist movement has
simmered for decades.
The dancers pulled the banned flag of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) out of a
traditional local drum, ElShinta radio reported.
"While the Maluku governor was making his speech, suddenly about 20 people
performed a traditional dance and flew the outlawed flag," Idrus Tatuhe, who attended
the ceremony, told ElShinta.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's spokesman Andi Mallarangeng told AFP that
it was "a small incident and it won't disrupt the peace in Ambon".
He added that "activity related to the separatist movement cannot be tolerated".
Police told AFP from Ambon that they had arrested 14 of the group and others
escaped. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2007 ANTARA
|
