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Riot police scuffle with 4,000 in Surabaya

Source
Dow Jones Newswires - September 9, 1998

Surabaya – Riot police scuffled with protesters and fired warning shots Wednesday when about 4,000 students staged one of the biggest protests so far against Indonesia's president over skyrocketing food prices.

Students from several universities and supporters of prominent opposition figure Megawati Sukarnoputri gathered near the office of the governor of East Java where President B.J. Habibie was staying during a visit to Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya.

The protesters were split into two groups by hundreds of security personnel in riot gear. Armored vehicles were also stationed nearby. Witnesses said riot police fired two or three shots into the air to disperse a protesting crowd in one city street. The demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans and waved red and white Indonesian flags. "We don't want Habibie. We want lower food prices," read one banner. The protest was one of the biggest so far against Habibie, who came to power in May after riots and protests forced authoritarian President Suharto to resign. The president on Wednesday left the governor's office after several hours and boarded a jet to Jakarta. He earlier canceled a planned visit to a new sports complex in a neighboring town because of disturbances along a highway.

Hundreds of troops and riot police were deployed across Surabaya, 650 kilometers east of Jakarta, after students said they would stage a big march against Habibie. Despite the large security presence, the number of protesters continued to grow through the morning. Some witnesses said members of the crowd had thrown rocks at passing vehicles.

Habibie called on Indonesians to remain calm and to support the government in its bid to fix massive economic problems.

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