TEMPO Magazine, No. 32/II/April 16 - 22, 2002
National
Maluku The Men Behind the Bomb
Police say they are still looking for two men who are the alleged perpetrators of the
recent bomb blast in Ambon. However, the motive—and the mastermind remain a
mystery.
Ida has changed in the past two weeks: color has returned to her cheeks and the
vegetable seller who trades outside the Hotel Amans in Ambon is now doing brisk
business. "Even Christians are now buying from me just like in the past," she said
light-heartedly.
Ida, like the rest of Ambon—the troubled capital of the South Maluku province—is
gradually regaining her normalcy. People are beginning to forget the bomb explosion
and the subsequent burning of the governor's office in this beautiful seaport a scant
two weeks ago.
The smoke billowing from the charred office complex is now gone but the scars of the
April 3 incident remain. Tahitu is still undergoing treatment at the GPM Hospital for
shrapnel wounds that had pierced his lungs in the bomb blast on that gloomy
Wednesday. The 35-year-old man was walking on Jalan Jan Pays when an object hit
his umbrella and exploded. Tahitu was able to run a few strides before he collapsed
and fell to the ground. "When I opened my eyes I was already in hospital," he
recalled.
The bomb that shook Ambon was hurled from a passing Toyota Kijang bearing plate
number DE-55-RB. The red van belonged to Syamsul Rizal, 38, who owns four
restaurants and a fleet of taxis and minibuses. Rizal said the vehicle was rented out
to a man named Mat, who said he then rented it to another man, named Ai. Ai
subsequently rented it out again to two men now believed to be responsible for the
bombing. Rizal is believed to have played no part in the bombing.
Based on information gathered from 12 witnesses, two suspects have now been
identified: Idi Amin Thabrani Pattimura, alias Ongen Pattimura, and Syafruddin Zasa.
The police say they are now in hot pursuit of the two men. They have also distributed
photographs of Ongen. Zasa, whose photo is not available, is described by police as
166 cm in height, with a dark complexion and curly hair. "The two would be available
to provide the real motive and the identity of the mastermind behind the explosion," a
police officer said.
Intensive searches for the two men mounted by the police over the past two weeks
have been to no avail. Lately there is speculation that the two have gone into hiding in
an area in South Sulawesi. Geographically, South Sulawesi is seen as a better
sanctuary compared, for instance, with Papua, said Inspector General Firman Gani,
the police chief in South Sulawesi, on April 12. He acknowledged that the police have
yet to find clues to their whereabouts.
So who are Ongen and Zasa? Both have unremarkable records. Ongen, 30 is from
Latu village in Kairatu, Central Maluku, and holds no regular job—although at times he
has worked as a temporary minibus driver. He is quite well known among Christian
youths and was reportedly active in a taskforce in his village. He was also involved in
the reconciliation effort between Christian and Muslim youths in Kudamati two years
ago. However, the laudable effort to bring about reconciliation failed and ended with
bloodshed in Waihaong in Ambon. "Police have been on the lookout for Ongen
following the incident," said Lut, a Muslim youth.
However, even if Ongen and Zasa were the instigators in the violence, someone must
have been giving them orders. Could Muslim or Christian groups have used them to
provoke further violence between the communities? Leading figures in the Maluku
Defenders of Islam Front (FPIM) have expressed doubts about the findings of the
police. FPIM chief Husni Putuhena, said he suspects that Maluku Police chief
Soenarko has links with the two men and that they have been identified as suspects
to avoid pressures from societal groups demanding an explanation for the bomb
attack.
On the other side, Alex Manuputy, who heads the Maluku Sovereignty Front, which is
linked to the Republic of South Maluku, a movement seeking the independence of
South Maluku, has accused the Indonesian armed forces of being behind the
bombing. Manuputy referred to a report by a witness who had seen a commander of
the elite Kopassus unit in the area just 10 minutes before the incident occurred.
Assembling and exploding a bomb is not child's play, he noted. "Everything is
interconnected," Manuputy said. "Only an expert can do it? And this, of course, is no
coincidence."
And the bomb that exploded on April 3 was no ordinary incendiary device either. The
shrapnel, pins and other objects hurled by the explosion were found up to half a
kilometer away from the blast site. No untrained person without ready access to
ammunition could have created it. The question that arises is who could that person
be? Only the police have the answer?
Irfan Budiman, Yusnita Tiakoly (Ambon)
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