THE STRAITS TIMES, Monday, April 29, 2002
RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE IN INDONESIA
Mob kills 14 people in Ambon
Pre-dawn attack saw mostly Christians stabbed, burned
By Derwin Pereira
INDONESIA CORRESPONDENT
JAKARTA - A mob stabbed and burned to death 14 people in Indonesia's strife-torn
Maluku province yesterday, raising concerns of more sectarian bloodshed in the days
ahead.
Any hope of restoring order quickly after a series of bomb explosions rocked the area
days ago ended ominously when assailants in black masks and armed with daggers
and bombs stormed the Christian-populated villages of Soiya and Ahoru in the capital
Ambon.
Military sources said 14 people, mostly Christians and including women and children,
were killed in the pre-dawn attack.
They warned that the figure could rise given that 10 others were badly injured.
'We think that the problems are going to get worse because no one is interested in
resolving problems peacefully,' said a senior military official.
The killings came two days after a militant Islamic group, Laskar Jihad, rejected a
peace deal signed in February to end three years of fighting between Christians and
Muslims in the region that has so far left 5,000 dead.
Reports quoted Christian pastor Cornelius Bohm of the Ambon Christian Crisis Centre
as saying: 'It may be the end of the peace deal. There is no doubt that it was Laskar
Jihad.'
Indeed, problems appeared to have worsened after the mysterious arrival last
Thursday of the Laskar Jihad leader Jaafar Umar Thalib in Ambon on the eve of the
anniversary of the founding of the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS).
The predominantly Christian separatist group flew its independence flags then,
angering Muslims who responded by burning down a partially rebuilt church and
threatening to resume attacks on Christians.
Jaafar, who has been accused of fanning the violence in the province, has openly
declared war on the RMS, urging crowds in mosques to take up arms against the
Christians.
The situation in Ambon remained tense yesterday as police searched burned-out
homes for more bodies. Some 30 houses and a Protestant church were set ablaze
during the mob frenzy.
Security forces also fired warning shots to disperse a crowd watching the RMS flags
being hoisted.
Observers said that the concern now was a spate of tit-for-tat attacks by both sides in
the coming days.
The Indonesian armed forces (TNI) continued to come in for strong criticism for doing
little to keep peace in the region.
Troops, poorly organised and demoralised, have been accused of openly taking sides
with rival camps. It has also been complicated by rivalry between police and military
forces.
While the problems in the Malukus has its roots in local factors and the wider
breakdown in law and order in Indonesia, some believe that disaffected generals are
also conspiring to keep the conflict going for economic and political reasons.
The Straits Times understands that one retired senior military officer is being
investigated by intelligence authorities for smuggling in arms for use by rival groups in
sectarian clashes.
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