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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jhild who wrote (15412)	5/15/1998 11:07:00 AM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 22053

Hundreds killed in fires as riots sweep Jakarta Posted at 7:32 a.m. PDT Friday, May 15, 1998 JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Hundreds of looters trapped by arson fires in Jakarta shopping malls died today as riots swept through the Indonesian capital for the fourth straight day. The U.S. Embassy urged Americans to leave immediately and organized evacuation flights. Most foreign-owned businesses closed down temporarily and waves of expatriates poured into Jakarta's two airports to seek the next flight out. Amid the chaos, a major faction of President Suharto's political party turned against him and further jeopardized his 32-year grip on power. More than 230 looters died when they were trapped inside four Jakarta shopping malls set ablaze by other rioters, witnesses said today. Many feared the death toll from the fires could double as families frantically sifted the ruins for the missing. Many bodies were taken away by relatives who did not notify officials. Indonesia is struggling to cope with its worst economic and political crisis in decades, and sharp government-ordered increases in the prices of basic goods and services last week pushed the poor to their breaking point. Anger spilled over into the streets Tuesday after police shot and killed six anti-government protesters at a student rally. The austerity measures were a condition of the International Monetary Fund's $43 billion aid package to bail out the southeast Asian nation. Distraught relatives and friends wailed today as the looters' charred bodies were pulled from the burned-out rubble. Some victims were found still clinging to the items they had stolen. ''My brother! My brother!'' one man cried out as others carried a blackened corpse at the Yoga Plaza in east Jakarta. At least 175 people died at the Yoga Plaza in east Jakarta, according to local media reports. Witnesses reported another 25 dead at the other three sites. ''I'm looking for my son. I told him not to loot but he went with his friends,'' one man said as he watched volunteers bringing out human remains on makeshift stretches. Another mall in south Jakarta was still burning today. Police said 30 people were believed to have died inside it but flames were too hot for a search to begin. The toll from the fires adds to the deaths of at least another 24 people, including four soldiers, killed in clashes between rioters and security forces this week. Suharto, who cut short a trip to Egypt to deal with the spiraling unrest, held a series of emergency meetings today before rolling back the price increases on gasoline and other essential fuels. Tanks and armored personnel carriers stood guard outside the city's biggest luxury hotels, protecting foreigners from mobs marauding across this gritty metropolis of 11 million people. Police said at least 800 looters had been arrested. Many office buildings in Jakarta were nearly empty. Trading in the country's plunging currency, the rupiah, was halted. Banks, many of which were ransacked the day before, were closed. In the east Jakarta suburb of Matraman, hundreds of poor families looted yet another mall. Police and soldiers stood by at first, but then fired warning shots when mobs began fighting over the goods they had stolen. The U.S. Embassy told its citizens to leave Indonesia's two largest cities of Jakarta and Surabaya ''as soon as possible.'' With commercial airlines besieged by those trying to flee, the embassy said it will begin evacuating trapped Americans on Saturday aboard chartered flights to Singapore or Bangkok. ''We're just looking to get to a safer spot,'' said Nancy Carmack of Grand Junction, Colo., whose husband works for an oil tolls company. She gave her age as 42, ''but 82 today.'' Kosgoro, one of the major factions within Suharto's ruling Golkar party, issued a statement demanding Suharto return the mandate to govern bestowed on him by Parliament. ''If he won't step down peacefully, then we must force him to leave,'' said a Kosgoro leader who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was the first sign of open rebellion within the 76-year-old president's once-mighty political machine. In England, President Clinton lamented the ''destructive developments'' in Indonesia but said the question of Suharto stepping down is up to the Indonesian people. Suharto returned to riot-torn Jakarta today, driving to his official residence under heavily armed escort. '' 'If the people have no confidence in me, it is not a problem for me to step down,' '' Information Minister Alwi Dahlan quoted Suharto as saying. Alwi denied earlier reports the president had said that he was ready to resign. No news or stock movement on COMS today. Decided it was time to look at the "big picture". Am glad we live where we live. o~~~ O