HTML pages designed & maintained by Alifuru67 Copyright © 1999/2001 - 1364283024 & 1367286044		Ambon Island   Ambon City        Latupatti   Want to Help? THE NEW YORK TIMES, October 10, 2001 INDONESIA Anti-American Protests Increase, and Sponsors Plan More By SETH MYDANS JAKARTA, Indonesia, Oct. 9 - Anti-American demonstrations widened in Indonesia today, with riot police firing tear gas to disperse angry protesters outside the United States Embassy in Jakarta. The protests, in at least four cities, remained relatively small, but radical Muslim groups said they were preparing larger demonstrations and repeated their warnings that they might attack foreigners here. With international schools closed and the American Embassy urging "maximum caution," dozens of American families headed abroad for unscheduled vacations. About 10,000 Americans live in Indonesia. In addition, the embassies of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have taken precautions. Indonesia is a largely moderate Muslim country and President Megawati Sukarnoputri has announced her qualified support for the United States in its campaign against terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. But the anger of the fringe groups that are holding demonstrations reflects a broad resentment of the United States and opposition to its bombing of Afghanistan. The anti-American agitation, which has been growing since the Sept. 11 attacks, has galvanized hard-line Islamic opposition to the moderate parties that control the government and added a new complication to Mrs. Megawati's politically fragile presidency. Leaders of the Islamic Youth Movement, which has been recruiting volunteers for what it calls a holy war, said they would agitate to remove Mrs. Megawati from office if she did not condemn the bombing of Afghanistan. Another group, the Islamic Defenders Front, threatened to attack foreigners if Mrs. Megawati did not break relations with the United States. Since Mrs. Megawati's statement of support for the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks, the government has equivocated, calling on Washington to show restraint in its response. On Monday, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda voiced the government's "deep concern" over the start of the bombing in Afghanistan. The demonstration outside the United States Embassy today was brief and noisy. When the demonstrators, seemingly urged on by agitators, stormed a barbed-wire barricade, riot police officers responded with tear gas, high-powered water hoses and warning shots. Elsewhere in Indonesia, demonstrators burned an American flag outside a McDonald's in Makassar, on Sulawesi Island, more than 800 miles northeast of Jakarta. In Jakarta, away from the American Embassy, the city was quiet, but shoppers, commuters and tradesmen, in a series of interviews, were almost unanimous in voicing discontent with the United States. "America is slipping into its usual role of showing off its superiority, so what else is new?" said Anton Dwi Susilo, 38, who owns a small business. "They've already got their hands dirty everywhere. They are upset this time because it is their own citizens who are the victims." Fuad Syarifuddin, 52, an insurance salesman, said the United States was lashing out against Afghanistan in an emotional reaction. "It's about time they knew what the rest of the world feels when it feels helpless," he said, referring to the Sept. 11 attacks. "I think this is actually a gentle reminder to them. They have created their own enemies by spreading fear and by oppressing those who are weaker than they are." Christina Widyaningsih, 24, a university student who is a Christian, said: "I don't really understand the Islamic movement, but I can definitely sympathize with their restlessness, their feeling that they have to do something. Yes, innocent lives were lost in the attack on the World Trade Center. But do the Americans really think their retaliation will solve the problem? I think resentment toward the United States and its Western allies will only grow." Copyright © 2001 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2001  - Ambon Berdarah On-Line * http://www.go.to/ambon HTML pages designed and maintained by Alifuru67 * http://www.oocities.org/baguala67 Send your comments to alifuru67@egroups.com