The Jakarta Post, April 06, 2002
Ambon blast may be linked to military
The Jakarta Post, Ambon/Jakarta
Maluku security authorities have no leads in the bombing which killed at least seven
people in the city of Ambon, but public speculation is growing that the powerful blast
was linked to the Indonesian military.
The speculation was fueled by the finding of a black Orari walkie-talkie that fell from a
red Kijang van seen fleeing from the blast scene on Jl. Yan Paays.
The van was believed to be carrying the people who hurled the bomb into a crowd
outside the Amboina hotel, about 700 meters from the Maluku governor's office.
The walkie-talkie, handed over as evidence to police by eyewitnesses, is usually
carried by military personnel.
Several eyewitnesses told The Jakarta Post that it was impossible for common people
to manufacture such a high-powered bomb, adding that they must have had military
training or were genuine soldiers.
However, Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono urged people to refrain from hastily blaming military officers.
Any claim over the possible role of military personnel should be proven in an
investigation, he said on Friday night.
An organization of local Muslim and Christian lawyers backed the speculation, saying
the bombers were strongly believed to belong to a group of people with "expert military
skills".
"They were able to escape the people at the scene who mobbed them, so the people
and security personnel were unable to surely identify the perpetrators," said a letter
from the group to President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah
Haz.
"It was suspected that the bomb belonged to the security authorities (the Indonesian
Military or the National Police) as its explosive effect was so dreadful," it said.
"The bomb even destroyed the room and windows on the Amboina hotel's fourth floor,"
added the letter.
Copies of the letter were forwarded to military and police chiefs, House of
Representative leaders and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
HAM).
The Ambon-based organization, called the Committee for Truth and Halting Maluku
Violence (KPK2PM), made the statement based on testimonies given by
eyewitnesses.
It condemned the incident and demanded that the authorities provide security and
safety guarantees for Maluku people following a peace accord signed on Feb. 12,
2002.
The death toll from Wednesday's explosion rose to seven after three of nearly 60
wounded victims died at the Haulussy public hospital on Friday.
Echoing KPK2PM's claims, George Kortuppi, a member of the Ambon-based Baileo
non-governmental organization, said that there was a small group that had no
connections with either Christian or Muslim militias, who had tried to sabotage the
peace process.
"Its members are professional. They bomb buildings and disappear quickly," he said.
Maluku's prominent sociologist Thamrin Amal Tomagola blamed a minority group of
local elite for the incident.
He argued that the bombing was not in any way related to clashes between Muslim
and Christian gangs.
During the three-year sectarian conflict, whenever the Christian side were attacked by
Muslims, they would hunt for the attackers.
"The same goes with Muslims... both communities know each other really well and
recognize the faces of their attackers. But in Wednesday's incident, when Christians
were attacked, they did not go after Muslims," Thamrin told the Post.
"This has possibly to do with an attempt to grab the Maluku governor's post. Many
elite groups are vying for that seat. This also could be the work of a minority group
who felt excluded ... or felt they were discouraged from participating in the Malino
peace talks."
He said he believed that the explosives device used in the bombing was not made by
civilians, but the military.
"They were not like those used previously by militant Muslim or Christian groups," he
added.
He urged the government to clean up elements within the military and police who were
seeking fortune from the communal conflicts.
Thamrin, coordinator of Tapak Ambon, a joint forum contributing to the settlement of
the Maluku conflict, also blasted the security authorities for its incompetence in
preventing the explosion.
"Intelligence ... should have identified any possible bombings since the very
beginning," he added.
Meanwhile, Maluku Police Chief Brig. Gen. Soenarko retracted on Friday his earlier
statement that three suspects had been named over the incident.
"We have not yet detained people as suspects. We have just investigated nine
witnesses and it is uncertain that they will be declared suspects," he said.
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