INDONESIA JAKARTA RIOTING amp LOOTING CONTINUES FOR 3RD DAY

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(14 May 1998) Natural Sound • • A senior Indonesian official says President Suharto has no plans to resign. • • Newspapers in Indonesia reported Suharto was willing to quit if the people no longer trusted him. • • But a high ranking official travelling with the president in Cairo said his remarks were an oblique way of expressing anger about the situation in his country. • • Suharto cut the trip short to return to Jakarta as thousands of looters burned shops and houses in a third day of rioting in the capital. • • Police and the army have been protecting government property but have done little to stop the looters going on the rampage elsewhere. • • It could be a war zone - Jakarta is a city out of control. • • Hours after newspapers carried front-page stories saying that President Suharto was considering resigning, looters went on the rampage. • • They attacked a four kilometre (2.5-mile) stretch of the city's main boulevard, Jalan Gadja Mada. • • Shops, houses and cars were torched and looters made the most of the chaos. • • As shops burned around them, people took what they want. • • It's the third day of rioting in the capital and while the police have been clashing with protestors to stop their demonstrations, they've done little to stop the looters. • • They are only guarding government property - the rest of the city is in the hands of the mob. • • Car showrooms proved to be a particularly satisfactory target for the looters. • • Windows were smashed, a van was stolen only to be trashed outside the shop. • • These scenes were repeated across the city. • • Political reform, a key demand of campus activists, was far from the minds of many looters. • • The rioting was more a spontaneous backlash against rising food prices as well as the rollback of subsidies last week on fuel, transport and electricity. • • There were unconfirmed reports that about a dozen people were missing or killed after homes, shops, cars and offices were ransacked and torched. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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