From: C-reuters@clari.net (Reuters)
Subject: Indonesian military chief warns against rioting
Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 12:12:41 PST
Expires: Fri, 7 Feb 1997 10:11:27 PST
ACategory: international

  	  				 
	 JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuter) - Indonesia's armed forces chief  
Gen. Feisal Tanjung said Friday the military would take sterner 
measures against riots following disturbances in a town east of 
Jakarta in which buildings were burned or wrecked. 
	 ``If riots continue, the armed forces will take sterner  
action...because this country is based on the rule of law,'' the 
official Antara news agency quoted him as saying. 
	 Troops patrolled the town of Rengasdengklok, about 30 miles  
east of Jakarta, and residents cleared rubble from wrecked 
buildings after a Muslim mob went on the rampage  Thursday over 
a reported insult against Islam, witnesses said. 
	 Rioters burned a church and a Chinese Buddhist temple,  
wrecked four other churches, and destroyed and looted shops and 
homes during a rampage on Thursday, officials and residents 
said. Sixteen cars were also destroyed. 
	 There were no reports of serious injuries.  
	 The rupiah fell against the dollar Friday morning but later  
recovered on a nervous money market on rumors of trouble in the 
major west Java city of Bandung. 
	 Bandung residents said thousands of workers from a nearby  
textile factory were demonstrating in demand of a bonus. Police 
said two cars were set on fire but the situation was quickly 
brought under control. 
	 Government officials said Thursday's riot in Rengasdengklok  
apparently started after an ethnic Chinese woman complained of 
the noise Muslim youths were making as they beat drums before 
dawn to summon people to eat before the start of the daylight 
Ramadan fast. 
	 Residents said troops were stationed in many parts of the  
town, which is part of the Karawang regency, a rice-growing area 
east of Jakarta. 
	 Last month, four people died when a mob went on a rampage in  
the town of Tasikmalaya in West Java, setting fire to shops, 
buildings and churches. That riot was sparked by reports of 
police brutality toward a Muslim religious teacher.