20000208

Battle over

mobile phone

KUALA LUMPUR: A squabble over a mobile phone sparked a pitched battle in Malaysia between rival groups of Indonesian construction workers in which some 100 workers' quarters were torched, reports said on Monday.

The clashes early on Sunday, in which petrol bombs, knives and stones were used, spread from Cyberjaya Ñ the site of Malaysia's multimedia super corridor project south of Kuala Lumpur Ñ to Putrajaya, the country' new administrative centre.

The Star newspaper said 136 people from Madura and Aceh were arrested.

Local police chief Mohamad Shukri Dahlan was quoted as saying the clash began when three Acehnese went for a drink at a stall in Cyberjaya where many Madurese were present.

"One of the Madurese accused one of the Aceh workers of stealing his cellular phone....a fight ensued between the two groups," he said.

One of the Acehnese escaped and sought help from his clansmen who were living in nearby quarters. Armed with petrol bombs and parangs (long knives), the Acehnese went on the rampage and torched the quarters of the Madurese workers at Cyberjaya and Putrajaya, Mohamad Shukri said.

Thirty policemen were rushed to the scene but took three hours to control the situation. One person was reported injured.

Mohamad Shukri said those arrested did not have valid travel documents.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said last Wednesday that the government might impose tougher conditions on applications by the industrial and corporate sectors to recruit foreign workers.ÑAFP