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5.30 pm: Armed group tries to storm Indonesian university
JAKARTA - Over 100 people armed with swords and metal bars tried to storm
an Indonesian university today but were foiled by students guarding the
campus, students said.
"Around 100 to 150 unidentified people armed with samurai swords and sharp
objects tried to enter our university at around 1:00 a.m. (1800 GMT
Monday)," said a student activist at the Catholic University of Indonesia.
"They were stopped by dozens of students guarding the university."
The university, a hotbed of student activism, has been guarded by dozens of
students over the past few days after rumours that violence could break out
on the campus.
The activist, who declined to be named, said the group then burned two food
stalls outside and vandalised several others.
"It was as though they were trying to provoke us to get out onto the
streets but we remained in the campus," he said.
He said the group then circled the university on motorbikes and shouted
"Burn!". They left 20 minutes later.
Shortly afterwards, two Catholic University students were taken away from
nearby boarding houses by police for questioning.
A lawyer for the Legal Aid Institute told Reuters the two students were
being questioned over the harassment of a police intelligence officer
during a demonstration last week.
Indonesian students led an anti-government movement that helped end
President Suharto's 32-year reign in May. They have also led protests
against his successor, President B.J. Habibie.
Many Catholic University students are members of City Forum, regarded as
among the most radical of Jakarta's student groups. It has called for a
transitional government to replace Habibie.
Fourteen people, mostly students, were killed last month when security
forces fired on anti-government protesters. - Reuters
10 am: World Bank report says Indonesians divert loan cash
WASHINGTON - Corrupt Indonesian officials have diverted funds from World
Bank loans, according to an internal report, but the global lender said
today it had no plans to cut off future payments.
Bank officials told Reuters a World Bank memorandum prepared in October
warned of "significant leakage" of bank funds due to corruption in the
Indonesian government.
The memo, a follow-up document to a paper produced in 1997 and reported
earlier this year, did not say how much money might have been diverted, the
officials said.
"We've been working with the government and NGOs (non-governmental
organisations) to change procedures and change the whole climate as far as
we can and as quickly as we can," World Bank spokesman Peter Stephens said.
"It remains a very serious problem."
Stephens said the World Bank would continue to lend to Indonesia to aid the
poor, hardest-hit by Asia's financial crisis.
"The view of the international community is that the poor in Indonesia need
serious financial assistance and they need it now," he added.
The October report followed an August 1997 World Bank memorandum, which
estimated that 20 to 30 percent of lending to Indonesia may have been
diverted by government officials and politicians.
The World Bank has loaned Indonesia more than $24 billion since 1967, with
credits designed to reduce poverty, build a functioning infrastructure and
speed economic growth.
Last year, the World Bank pledged $4.5 billion to support a $43 billion
Indonesia rescue package led by the International Monetary Fund after
Asia's financial crisis took hold.
The IMF is expected to debate a payment from its loan to Indonesia next week.
The Financial Times newspaper, reporting on the memorandum in its Tuesday
edition, said NGOs had expressed concern that funds were still being
diverted and that the money could be used to influence next year's
elections. - Reuters
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Copyright � 1998 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
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