The Jakarta Post, October 08, 2004
Two bombs explode at church in Ambon
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post/Ambon
Peace in the Maluku capital of Ambon, once plagued by three years of sectarian
fighting, was put to the test again when two homemade bombs exploded in the
eastern city on Thursday.
No one was hurt in the blast and no damage was reported.
Two blasts were heard at about 11:30 a.m. some 25 meters behind the Silo church in
Sirimau district, Ambon. The church is being renovated after having been set ablaze
during the 1999-2002 riots.
The explosions caused panic among local residents and at the nearby Pattimura
University, with lecturers and students seen fleeing the campus.
A 30-year-old fruit trader, Endang, who runs a stall about 20 meters from the blast
site, said the two bombs went off in quick succession.
"The explosions were big. Fortunately, there were no people in the area at the time of
explosions," she said.
The adjacent Jl. Dr. Latumeten street quickly became jammed as the blast attracted
motorists and a crowd of pedestrians.
Police later cordoned off the scene in anticipation of possible further blasts.
Bomb squad officers from the Maluku Police arrived and combed the blast site, where
they discovered pieces of metal pipe.
"The exploded bombs were low-power explosives," Maluku Police spokesman Sr.
Comr. Endro Prasetyo told The Jakarta Post.
He said the police were searching for the bombers.
Some 30 minutes prior to the incident, local police had arrested a suspected drug
dealer who had long been included on their list of wanted people in Maluku, along with
a quantity of crystal amphetamine (shabu-shabu).
The arrest of the suspect, identified only as Jamal, was made in the area of Jl. Baru
adjacent to the bomb site.
Ambon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Leonidas Braksan said his office was investigating
whether the blasts were connected with the arrest of Jamal.
"The suspect is allegedly a drug-dealer in Ambon. We are probing his possible role in
the incident," Leonidas said.
He said security in Ambon remained under control with local people resuming their
daily activities.
The bomb site is an area bordering two communities of Muslims and Christians,
which clashed for three years until they signed a peace pact in February 2002.
Thousands of people were killed in the riots.
Last April, some 40 people were killed and hundreds of homes and other buildings
torched in violence that broke out after a procession by supporters of the mainly
Christian separatist Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM).
On Wednesday, prosecutors asked the Ambon District Court to sentence four people,
one of them an alleged FKM member, to between 24 months and 30 month's jail for
treason.
The four suspects were allegedly among the dozens of FKM members and
sympathizers who took part in the peaceful April procession that triggered the
violence, the worst since the February 2002 peace accord.
The prosecutors said that by taking part in the ceremony, the defendants caused
chaos and threatened the unity of Indonesia.
Other alleged FKM members and sympathizers suspected of participating in the event
are being questioned.
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