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Comment (JAKARTA (AFP) - - As Indonesians prepare to mark the 10th anniversary of the fall of the Suharto regime this month, the terrible first act of that historic drama is almost too shameful to recall.
Except, of course, for the country's ethnic Chinese minority, which bore the brunt of two days of rioting, rape and arson on May 13-14, 1998 that signalled the beginning of the end of the general's dictatorship.
The riots left more than 1,000 people dead and forced ethnic Chinese women to cower in their homes for days as rape squads -- purportedly led by army thugs -- roamed Jakarta's streets.
"It was terrifying chaos. People were trapped inside the burning department stores and black smoke was everywhere from the burning buildings and vehicles on the streets," Yuyun, an ethnic Chinese woman, told AFP in the city's Chinatown district.
Hundreds of Chinese-owned homes and businesses were looted and razed during the unrest, which unfolded under the noses of the security f...
