Rogue Element

Jakarta, 1005 Zulu, Thursday, 30 April

The violent scenes at Sydney Airport had been picked up by the international news services. By mid-morning, Jakarta time, they had screened in Indonesian homes and on the televisions placed in electrical shop windows throughout the country.

By late afternoon, the forecourt of the Australian embassy was taking a battering from bottles and stones thrown by a mob incensed at the treatment of their citizens in Australia. A line of police kept the demonstrators off the fence. How long they would be able to succeed without the use of riot equipment was debatable, for the numbers of demonstrators were increasing at an alarming rate.

Again, a local news crews captured the passionate display live.

Suluang happened to catch the five o’clock bulletin and was delighted by what he saw. At last, some good news…