ANTARA, Apr 26 2006
Anti-terror detachment seizes separatist flag in Ambon
Ambon (ANTARA News) - Maluku anti-terror detachment personnel on Wednesday
seized another separatist RMS (Republic of South Maluku) flag hoisted onto an areca
nut tree outside a tennis court in Batugajah subdistrict in Sirimau district.
The anti-terror personnel confiscated the illegal flag after receiving a report from people
who saw the flag Wednesday morning.
Members of the anti-terror detachment also seized a similar flag in Batugajah
subdistrict on Tuesday.
The two flags were kept at the Ambon and Lease islands police precinct.
Reports said the flags were hoisted to commemorate the separatist movement`s 56th
anniversary.
The police in Ambon district have so far seized five separatist flags during the past few
weeks.
Two more separatist flags were also released into the sky by a gas-filled balloon here
on Tuesday.
Maluku Police Chief Brig. Gen. Aditya Warman said RMS supporters were making
attempts to provoke people in Ambon that was severely wracked by bloody sectarian
conflict for years.
"Thank God, people refuse to be provoked again. They even support security
personnel in maintaining the safe situation in Ambon," he said.
Ambon and Lease islands police precinct chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner
Leonidas Braksan said here Wednesday the police had not captured people who had
allegedly hoisted the separatist flags.
Meanwhile Maluku governor Karel Albert Rahalalu said here Wednesday that Home
Affairs Minister Moh Ma`ruf welcomed the conducive situation in Maluku despite the
RMS flag hoistings.
Ma`ruf told Rahalu that the conducive situation in Maluku will encourage investors to
do busines in the province following the bloody sectarian conflict.
"I think Maluku people have no longer wanted to face prolonged misery which caused
by irresponsible people who used religious symbols for their own interests. Maluku
people want to live harmoniously that has been inherited by their ancestors," Rahalu
said. (*)
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