JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has dismissed fears of an explosion of unrest as he flew out of the crisis-racked country, but bloodshed escalated into beheadings even before be boarded his plane.
More than 75 people have been slaughtered -- many decapitated or burned to death -- in a revival of ethnic violence in remote Central Kalimantan province on Borneo, officials and media said on Thursday.
About 15,000 people have fled their homes to seek shelter at police posts and government offices.
The unrest on Borneo, once notorious for fierce headhunters, underlined the chaos racking the world's fourth most populous country under Wahid's increasingly fragile leadership.
Amid fears his enemies could seize on his absence to fuel instability, the frail Muslim cleric appealed for calm before leaving Jakarta's Halim military airport on a two-week trip to Africa and the Middle East.
"No. There will be no problems because there is Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri," he told reporters.
In what have become almost routine events, several hundred protesters hit the streets of Jakarta in driving rain earlier on Thursday, yelling anti-Wahid slogans and criticising him for leaving the country. There were no clashes with police.
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One door closed is one door opened
One more memory fades away
Such grand dreams we all have chosen
We lost our innocence along the way
- Rose Bygrave, "Innocence"
PsychoticIckyThing.Com
More than 75 people have been slaughtered -- many decapitated or burned to death -- in a revival of ethnic violence in remote Central Kalimantan province on Borneo, officials and media said on Thursday.
About 15,000 people have fled their homes to seek shelter at police posts and government offices.
The unrest on Borneo, once notorious for fierce headhunters, underlined the chaos racking the world's fourth most populous country under Wahid's increasingly fragile leadership.
Amid fears his enemies could seize on his absence to fuel instability, the frail Muslim cleric appealed for calm before leaving Jakarta's Halim military airport on a two-week trip to Africa and the Middle East.
"No. There will be no problems because there is Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri," he told reporters.
In what have become almost routine events, several hundred protesters hit the streets of Jakarta in driving rain earlier on Thursday, yelling anti-Wahid slogans and criticising him for leaving the country. There were no clashes with police.
Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=world&Repository=WORLD_REP&RepositoryStoryID=%2Fnews%2FIDS%2FWorld%2FOUKWD-INDONESIA-VIOLENCE_NEW.XML
------------------
One door closed is one door opened
One more memory fades away
Such grand dreams we all have chosen
We lost our innocence along the way
- Rose Bygrave, "Innocence"
PsychoticIckyThing.Com