ABC AUSTRALIA, 04/05/2004 23:00:26
Indonesia replaces police chief in troubled Maluku province
The police chief of Indonesia's Maluku province has been replaced following week-long
Muslim-Christian battles, in which 38 people were killed and hundreds of buildings
torched.
National police spokesman, Paiman, says Brigadier General Bambang Sutrisno has
been shifted to a new assignment at police headquarters in the capital Jakarta.
He did not link the transfer directly to the violence.
However, the AFP news agency says police in the provincial capital, Ambon, are
accused of handling poorly an April 25 parade by Christian separatists of the Maluku
Sovereignty Front.
Clashes broke out with Muslims who saw the parade as provocative.
The violence was the worst since a pact in February 2002 ended three years of
sectarian fighting, in which around 5,000 people died.
Mr Paiman says Brigadier General Sutrisno has been transferred "to safeguard the
situation" in the lead-up to the July presidential election, in which President Megawati
Sukarnoputri faces a tough challenge from two ex-generals standing on law-and-order
platforms.
04/05/2004 23:00:26 | ABC Radio Australia News
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