The group of demonstrators who protested outside the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta yesterday is suspected to have links with Indonesian military forces and armed groups involved in the East Timor massacre three years ago.

Yesterday, some 40 persons claiming to represent radical nationalist group Laskar Merah Putih Red and White Force burnt a Malaysian flag and pulled down the main gates of the Malaysian mission in Jakarta.

A protest letter was later handed to an embassy official, urging that Malaysia stops its "inhumane" caning and fining of illegal workers.

The incident prompted Foreign Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar to advise Malaysians against travelling to Indonesia unless it is necessary, until anti-Malaysian sentiment in the republic "cools down".

A small army

According to the Consortium for Indonesian Migrant Workers' Defence (Kopbumi), the Laskar Merah Putih is a nationalist army, which is said to be linked to the Indonesian army.

"Some of them are ex-criminals. Previously, they had been also sent to East Timor during the post-independence clashes," said Kopbumi executive secretary Wahyu Susilo when contacted today.

However, he added that this group is a small one and that it was not working with other groups seeking migrant workers' rights for Indonesians.

Wahyu said it was "not really" strong, but conceded that another incident involving detention of Malaysian tourists in Medan was "political".

Last Friday, 19 Malaysian tourists were detained by Indonesian police for allegedly not having their passports with them at the lobby of a hotel in Lake Toba, Sumatra. They were released after being held for almost six hours.

The two incidents are said to be the outcome of mounting anger over the jailing and whipping of Indonesian illegal immigrants arrested after the implementation of new immigration laws this month.

To date, over 100 Indonesians have been convicted of immigration offences in various states around Malaysia.

[Source: Malaysiakini web site, Petaling Jaya, in English August 27.]