SIX HUNDRED POLICEMEN DEPLOYED TO SECURE KOJA

Jakarta, April 15 (ANTARA) - The Jakarta metropolitan police on Thursday deployed 600 personnel to secure Koja, North Jakarta, a day after a deadly riot rocked the area, a police spokesman said.

"We have deployed 600 police officers in the Koja area," Jakarta metropolitan police spokesman Senior Commissioner Boy Rafli, said.

The policemen did not only secure the Koja area but also lifted all remnants of the vehicles that residents defending the tomb of a respected Muslim figure burned during the Wednesday rioting, he said.

The clashes between Jakarta city public order personnel and the tomb defenders claimed three lives and wounded 100 people.

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

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.

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.

In response to Wednesday's incident, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had ordered stoppage of 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 would study the social conditions in the field.

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