Indonesian capital tense as riot death toll rises

The death toll from bloody riots in the Indonesian capital rose to three,as hundreds of police were deployed to guard city hall amid fears of further violence.

The death toll from bloody riots in the Indonesian capital rose to three on Thursday,as hundreds of police were deployed to guard city hall amid fears of further violence,officials said.

More than 100 people were also injured,many seriously,in yesterday’s clashes between security forces and people protesting over plans to bulldoze part of a cemetery containing a memorial to a revered Muslim scholar.

“Three members of the security forces were killed. One died this morning while two were killed yesterday,” a spokesman for Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said.

Police fired tear-gas,pepper bullets and water cannon to disperse hundreds of men armed with machetes,swords and sticks who had massed to protect the empty tomb of the 18th century scholar,Habib Hasan bin Muhammad Al Hadad.

The scholar’s remains were removed from the cemetery some years ago but his tomb is still considered a holy place by many people in the poor northern suburb.

Members of the city’s Satpol public order force were seen beating,clubbing,kicking and stomping on injured protesters as the situation spun out of control.

Demonstrators were also seen beating and stomping on fallen Satpol officers,some of whom were badly gashed with machetes.

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President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono criticised the security forces and demanded a peaceful resolution of the dispute,which left the Tanjung Priok neighbourhood near Jakarta’s international port looking like a war zone.