GHAZALI DISPLAYS PETROL BOMBS ON DESK: SPEARS SHOWN: JUNKYARD WITH DAMAGED CARS.




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Background: Kuala Lumpur began picking up the pieces today (May 21) in the first period of relative peace since race riots broke out there two weeks ago.

The cost of the riots in human terms has been high. 163 people have been killed, and over 3,500 have been arrested.

Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman has blamed Chinese supported opposition parties for provoking the Malay community.

Yesterday, at a press conference held by the Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs Dr. Ismail, a collection of petrol bombs, spears and machetes were shown to pressmen by Tun Ghazali, Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office.

Most of the weapons -- as well as some firearms which were not on display -- were seized from a flat in the Malaysian capital, where a number of alleged Communists were arrested. Police had been watching the flat since May 9th.

Trying the people arrested is presenting its own problems. The lower courts are short staffed and have been working all the time to hear cases. Other government departments have re-opened and as the curfew restrictions relaxed, more people have been returning to work. Mail is being delivered now, and some buses are running.

Refuse workers are clearing mounds of rotting refuse from the streets, and dealing with a new kind of eyesore -- vehicles wrecked or damaged during the riots. In the sensitive areas still under curfew, gutted wrecks still litter the streets. But most of the vehicles -- which include buses -- have been towed to an improvised junk-yard in a vacant allotment.