Borneo Police Fire on Rampaging Dayaks
Hundreds of Dayak demonstrators rampaged through this provincial capital in central Borneo on Friday, setting ablaze security posts and a police truck. Officers fired warning shots to disperse the crowd.
Witnesses said Indonesian police opened fire on the Dayaks as they tried to break into the compound of the provincial police chief’s home. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The violence came a day after riot police shot and killed as many as six indigenous Dayaks after a visit by Indonesia’s president.
In Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, President Abdurrahman Wahid--who had traveled to Borneo on Thursday hoping to bring peace to Central Kalimantan province, blamed a small group of agitators for Dayak attacks on migrants from Madura island and said most people in the province wanted to live in peace.
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