THE STAR Online [Malaysia], Tuesday, 23 April 2002
Indonesians extend news blackout in restive Maluku
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Fearful that a pro-independence celebration on Friday
could lead to clashes between Muslims and Christians, authorities in Indonesia's
Maluku province have imposed a news blackout for the rest of the month.
The news blackout - first put in place on April 10 - is part of a widespread crackdown
aimed at keeping the peace in the war-torn province 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles)
east of Jakarta.
In the past week, authorities have banned foreign journalist from going to Maluku,
imposed an overnight curfew, and charged a Christian separatist leader with treason.
"The civil emergency administrator has made the decision in order to create a feeling
of safety among the people as well as restore security and order in the province,''
Deputy North Maluku Governor Paula Renyaan said.
The province has been tense since a street bombing earlier this month killed four
people and threatened to derail a peace deal that ended three-years of fighting
between Muslims and Christians in which up to 9,000 people died.
Alex Manuputty, head of the Maluku Sovereignty Front, announced within days of the
bombing that he would raise banned separatist flags on April 25, the 52nd anniversary
of a failed independence bid. It led to his arrest last week on charges of treason.
The Maluku Sovereignty Front is a small group banned in Indonesia for its aggressive
campaign to make the southern part of the Maluku archipelago an independent nation.
The majority of Indonesians are Muslim, but South Maluku's two million inhabitants
are evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.
The front claims widespread support among Christians in the province and wants
Jakarta to allow a referendum on self-determination, akin to a U.N.-supervised
plebiscite held in East Timor in 1999.
Meanwhile in Aceh, a province on Indonesia's western end, four more people were
killed in separatist violence that has claimed 400 lives this year.
Two suspected rebels were killed in Pusong after a makeshift bomb blew up. Two
unidentified civilians were found dead nearby, a military spokesman said.
Maj. Zaenal Mutaqien said the bomb blast also injured seven villagers - including three
women and a child - and destroyed two nearby homes. - AP
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