N JAKARTA RIOTING KILLS THREE PUBLIC ORDER OFFICERS

Jakarta, April 15 (ANTARA) - Wednesday's clashes between Jakarta city public order personnel and residents defending the tomb of a respected Muslim figure in Koja, North Jakarta claimed three lives.

All the dead victims were public order officers, head of the Jakarta provincial government' information and public relations devision, Cucu Ahmad Kurnia, said here Thursday.

They were identified as M. Soepono, a resident of Tugu village, Koja sub-district, North Jakarta, Israel Jaya (Bekasi), and Ahmad Tadjudin (West Jakarta), he said.

The street war between public order personnel and local residents was triggered by the authorities' order to demolish illegal buildings inside the compound of the tomb of Habib Hasan bin Muhammad Al Hadad, popularly known as "Mbah Priok".

On Thursday morning, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo visited the mourning family of Ahmad Tadjudin in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, to express his condolences and deep regret over the violent rioting.

Bowo called on Jakartans and other elements of the nation to resolve any problem through peaceful means.

After visiting the mourning house, he went to Tarakan public hospital in Central Jakarta to see wounded victims being hospitalized there.

Meanwhile, Chief of Jakarta's public order security force Harianto Badjoeri said he would conduct a thorough investigation into the causes of the street war between his men and local people.

But he defended his men who violently responded to the tomb defenders' acts, saying that his men were attacked first.

In another development, the Jakarta provincial government initiated a meeting attended by all related parties to resolve the problem at about 02.00 pm.

Among the attendants were representatives of the Indonesian port services (PT Pelindo II), the tomb's heirs, North Jakarta's mayor, the chief of public order security force, Human Rights Commission's representatives and community leaders, he said.

The Wednesday clashes had caused great public concern and the . head of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)'s Aceh chapter, Tgk.Faisal Ali, shared the public concern here Thursday.

He deplored the clashes that had claimed at least two lives and injured more than a hundred people.

"We deplore the rioting. It would not have happened if the Jakarta provincial government had focused on seeking the best solution to the problem by social and peaceful means, not violence and power," he said.

The government could not demolish a Muslim figure's tomb or a site that locals had frequently used for Islamic rituals because such an act would trigger public anger, he said.

In response to Wednesday's incident, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had ordered a halt to operations or renovation efforts at the compound of the tomb in the Koja area, North Jakarta.

"I ask for a status-quo and call for talks to be done again to settle the problem with all stakeholders," he said in Jakarta on the day the incident occurred.

He said the clash that happened in Tanjung Priok should and could have been avoided if security personnel had studied the social conditions in the field beforehand.

President Yudhoyono also ordered a thorough investigation into the incident and find the real cause of the mass violence.