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 10, 2002
THE SITUATION IN AMBON / MOLUCCAS - Report No. 335
1. IDUL FITRI CELEBRATION WITHOUT DISTURBANCE – Idul Fitri, end of the
fasting month Ramadan, was celebrated in Ambon and – as far as we know –
everywhere in the Moluccas without any disturbance. It was a refreshing experience to
walk freely in some Muslim areas, shaking hands and happily smiling one to another.
However, some Muslim friends advised Christians to stay clear of certain areas, just
to avoid any misunderstanding.
2. BLOODY INTERNAL CONFLICT – Yesterday two neighbouring muslim villages on
the Northern part of the island of Ambon (Leihitu peninsula), namely Asilulu and
Ureng, clashed, causing the death of three villagers; 24 were wounded. Some 30
houses were burned. The clash started due to a small incident the day before: a
speedboat from Ureng came too close to a sampan (paddle longboat) from Asilulu,
causing one of the sampan's crew falling out of the boat because of the big waves
trailing the speedboat. The helmsman of the speedboat afterwards was beaten up by
people from Asilulu. The following morning the villagers of Ureng --feeling humiliated--
launched a large-scale attack on Asilulu, in which two residents of Asilulu and one
resident of Ureng were killed by gunfire. The police has succeeded to put the situation
under control.
3. DEMONSTRATION AGAINST APPOINTED ACTING GOVERNOR – On
December 9 a demonstration took place in front of the Al-Fatah Mosque in Ambon
town, protesting the assignment of Sinyo Harry Sarundayang as the impending acting
Governor of the Moluccas. Several hundreds of demonstrators, who claimed to belong
to the joint front of Moluccas Muslims, stated that the government should not install a
person who does not know about the conditions in the Moluccas; they also criticized
Sarundayang's performance during his period as the acting Governor of the North
Moluccas. Muslim oriented "Ambon Ekspress" daily newspaper, however, reports on
the statement of a number of local Muslim organizations (specifically the GPII,
IKSAMUNI and IMM) that disagree with this demonstration and urge the Muslim
community to accept this government appointed acting Governor. Meanwhile from
trustworthy source in Ternate we learned that Sarundayang performed well during his
recent tenure in the North Moluccas.
C.J.Böhm msc,
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina |
