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CRISIS CENTRE DIOCESE OF AMBOINA


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


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