The Jakarta Post, 9/19/2002 9:02:36 PM
Four killed, 300 buildings burned in fresh violence
JAKARTA (JP): The situation in Haruku, Central Maluku, has gradually returned to
normal following an outbreak of violence on Wednesday that claimed the lives of five
people and burned down 300 buildings, including five churches.
Sr. Comr. Anthonius Bambang Suedy, the deputy chief of the Maluku Provincial
Police, said there was no need to deploy security personnel to Haruku because the
situation was under control.
"The chief of police in Pelauw has been ordered to regularly report on the situation in
Haruku to take any immediate measures if the situation worsens," Antara news
agency quoted Suedy as saying in Ambon, the capital of Maluku, on Thursday.
He called on people outside Haruku not to be easily provoked by the incident in order
to prevent violence from spreading to other areas.
Violence spread on Wednesday to Ambon with one person killed and one house
burned down.
The incident was triggered by a trivial dispute between youths of the Pelauw and
Kailolo villages in Haruku subdistrict during a local feast on Sept. 14. There were no
details available on the incident. Three people were killed and two others were injured.
On Sunday one person was also killed when armed men attacked three villages in the
northern part of Morotai, an island off the northwestern tip of Halmahera island in North
Maluku, said a police officer in the neighboring district of Tobelo.
The police officer named the villages as Pangeo, Kusobo and Soara but declined to
provide further information. He said the security situation had since returned to
normal.
Sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians first erupted on Ambon island in
January 1999 and quickly spread to the other islands in Maluku and North Maluku.
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