The Jakarta Post, 4/28/2004 4:25:56 PM
Indonesian security chiefs fly to riot-hit Ambon, death toll at 36
AMBON, Maluku (AFP): Indonesia's security chiefs flew on Wednesday to riot-hit
Ambon for talks with local leaders on ways to quell Muslim-Christian fighting which
has killed 36 people since Sunday.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs ad interim, Hari Sabarno,
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Soetarto, National Police chief Gen.
Da'i Bachtiar and other officials met Maluku provincial officials and about 100 local
leaders for closed-door talks at the airport.
It was not immediately clear whether they would drive into the city, where snipers and
bombers killed one civilian and injured 11 earlier Wednesday.
Police say 36 people, including two of their officers hit by snipers, have died since a
banned parade by Christian separatists sparked off the sectarian bloodshed on
Sunday in the Maluku provincial capital.
The violence was the worst since a pact in February 2002 ended three years of
religious battles in which some 5,000 people died.
Some 159 people have been injured and at least 200 homes, and many other
buildings including the United Nations mission, were set ablaze.
Violence on Wednesday appeared confined to that area. Daily life slowly started to
resume elsewhere in the city, with some schools and markets opening and buses on
the streets.
More than 2,000 Muslims and Christians have fled their homes, according to a crisis
center operated by a Muslim student body.
Those who stayed behind remained confined to their respective sectors of the divided
city behind hastily-improvised street barricades.
In the southern Tanah Lapang Kecil and Waringin districts, scene of most of the
recent clashes, locals installed three shipping containers taken from the port to
provide shelters from snipers in exposed spots.
Sporadic gunshots could still be heard from the area in the early afternoon. Locals
said these apparently were warning shots fired to keep groups from other religions and
police and troops at bay.
Despite the sniper danger, curious onlookers gathered on street corners.
The government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who faces a tough re-election
challenge in July against two law-and-order candidates, has rushed 400 extra
paramilitary police and 450 more troops to Ambon to prevent any recurrence of the
1999-2002 battles.
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