CRISIS CENTRE DIOCESE OF AMBOINA
Jalan Pattimura 32 -- Ambon 97124 -- Indonesia
Tel 0062 (0)911 342195 Fax 0062 (0)911 355337
E-mail: crisiscentre01@hotmail.com
Ambon, December 9, 2005
THE SITUATION IN AMBON/MOLUCCAS - Report No. 496
1. HAYA NOT TO BE REGARDED AS A TERRORIST NEST - In the early morning of
November 25, police forces detained 21 terrorist suspects of the Al-Mujahidin
pesantren (muslim boarding school) in the village of Haya, subdistrict of Tehoru, South
Ceram island. Leader of this pesantren was the notorious Ustad Batar (see previous
report). Haya residents had never thought such terrorist activities to take place among
them, so on the same day they angrily went up to the pesantren building and set the
torch to it.
Meanwhile of those that were detained by the police and brought to Ambon -according
to today's Ambon Ekspres daily newspaper- there was only one who reasonably could
be suspected to be a terrorist, because when arrested he had a home-made gun with
him and 30 bullets. Since of all others no evidence could be provided of any
involvement in terrorist activities, all of them were sent home: the Javanese back to
Java and the Haya villagers back to their village on Ceram. People of the Tehoru
subdistrict, which includes the village of Haya, hope that there will not be any
suspicion left on them being a terrorist area.
2. MESSAGE OF PEACE FROM POPE BENEDICT - From 2 to 9 December the
Vatican Ambassador (or "Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See") for Indonesia and Timor
Leste, the Srilangkan Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige, paid a visit to
the Moluccas, focusing on Ambon and the western south-east Moluccas (Saumlaki).
His busy agenda included several major liturgical celebrations and meetings with
government officials, with religious leaders and with the common people. He praised
the assuring situation in Ambon and sent the Pope’s best wishes for the whole
population of the Moluccas and North Moluccas, and his pledge of praying that the
current situation of sincere peace may be maintained and that wounds inflicted by the
earlier unrest would gradually heal.
C.J.Böhm msc,
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina |
