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, February 15, 2005
THE SITUATION IN AMBON/MOLUCCAS - Report No. 466
1. KIDNAPPED MINISTER NOT FOUND YET - On December 2, a Pentecostal
Minster, Jarok Ratu, was kidnapped from his house in South Buru by eight men. Up
to now there is no trace of the kidnappers.
2. SPEEDBOAT SHOT AT - In the afternoon of Monday, February 7, a large
passenger speedboat was shot at from a smaller speedboat on its route from Ambon
to Leksula, on the south coast of the island of Buru. Two passengers were seriously
wounded. There happened to be a military, who immediaty answered with gunfire,
whereupon the attackers fled in the direction of the nearby little island of Ambelau.
3. CIVILIAN KILLED BY DRUNKEN POLICEMAN - In the early morning of February
8, in the village of Waitatiri, island of Ambon, a civilian named Ismael Pelu was shot at
by a policeman. The policeman (initials OL) was under influence. His victim died.
There was no apparent reason for the killing.
4. TWO KILLED BY GUNFIRE - At 1.0 a.m. today a speedboat approached the shore
at Wailete, between the villages of Wayame and Hative Besar and took a Karaoke
building under fire. Two people were killed, two were wounded. As the fire could be
answered by revolver fire, the attackers withdrew.
These three acts of violence raise suspicion that certain persons want the Moluccas
conflict to start all over again. Earlier incidents include a bomb blast in a shop in
Batumerah, Ambon, on February 3, and the exploding of two homemade bombs in a
vadant lot in Benteng Atas, Ambon, both without fatal consequence.
5. HUALOY HIT BY GALE - A gale-force wind hit Hualoy, island of Seram, during the
night following February 10. Some 25 houses were damaged. No casualties have
been reported. People ran to higher ground for fear of a tsunami...
C.J.Böhm msc,
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina |
