The Jakarta Post, May 07, 2004
Standard army and police weapons used in Ambon: NGO
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Ambon
A grassroots reconciliation movement offered on Thursday more facts that could shed
light on the true identity of the snipers blamed for fueling fresh violence in Ambon,
Maluku, which has so far killed 38 people.
Non-governmental organization, the Peace Building Institute, said the snipers, who
are continuing to sow fear among Ambon residents, were using Styer SSG-69 rifles,
which are widely used by sniper units of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National
Police sharpshooters.
"The Styer SSG-69, which can hit a target up to one kilometer away with deadly
accuracy, is common in both the military and police," director of the institute, Ichsan
Malik, said in a discussion with The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
He refrained, however, from actually pointing the fingers at the TNI or police, saying
that further investigation would be needed to reveal the true identity of the snipers.
TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Syafrie Syamsuddin said earlier that the mystery snipers
were using weapons stolen from a police armory during an infamous raid in Ambon in
2000.
Ichsan, a political scientist with the University of Indonesia, said the weapons stolen
from the warehouse had a range of up to 200 meters only, while the ones being used
by snipers were accurate up to one kilometer away.
He also said that the snipers were skilled marksmen, as shown by the fact that
victims were shot in the forehead, heart or between the eyes.
Fellow activist Abubakar Riry said the weapons being used by the snipers were
similar to those used by antisniper units formed by the former Pattimura Military
commander, Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela, in 2000. "What happened to these units after a
new military commander was installed to replace Tamaela is still not clear," said
Abubakar, the former leader of a militia group defending a Muslim neighborhood in
Ambon.
Both Ichsan and Abubakar agreed that what sparked the renewed violence in Ambon
was not the rally by the separatist Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM) to commemorate
the 54th anniversary of the proclamation of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) but
rather the killing of three persons by the snipers.
"After more than three years of a reconciliation campaign we call BakuBae we believe
that both Muslims and Christians no longer are willing to get easily involved in
conflicts," Ichsan said, adding that officials in Jakarta were tending to overstate the
scale of the conflict.
Ambon, the site of bloody religious strife that killed over 5,000 people between 1999
and 2001, was plunged into violence again on April 25. At least 38 people have been
killed since then.
"The renewed conflict in Ambon is not as atrocious as officials in Jakarta keep
saying," Ichsan said.
Maluku police said on Thursday that gunmen firing from a speedboat shot dead a
Christian adult and a baby, and wounded three others in a dawn attack off Buru
Island.
Provincial police spokesman Hendro Prasetyo said an 11-month-old baby and a
38-year-old Christian man, who was shot six times in the chest, died in the attack
which occurred at about 6 a.m. Wednesday.
The dead man and baby, and the three wounded people, as well as another person
who is missing, were going about their normal business in Wamkana village when
eight attackers opened fire from the speedboat, which was passing between 200
meters and 300 meters offshore, Prasetyo said as reported by Agence
France-Presse.
Ambon town was relatively calm on Thursday but for many traumatized residents it
was far from business as usual in many parts of the city.
The police arrested more suspected separatists on Thursday, including FKM
secretary-general Moses Tuanakotta.
Earlier, the police had already detained FKM chairman Alexander Manuputty's wife
Olly Manuputty and daughter Christin Manuputty.
Together with the eight other suspects, they were flown to Jakarta on Thursday to
undergo further questioning at National Police Headquarters.
In Jakarta, police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the police had requested the handover
of Manuputty by the United States to enable further questioning of the alleged
separatist leader.
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