The Jakarta Post, 3/22/2005 7:10:35 PM
President orders intelligence operation in Ambon: Kalla
JAKARTA (Antara): President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed National
Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and Indonesian Military commander Gen. Endriartono
Sutarto to launch an intelligence operation in Ambon in a bid to capture culprits in a
series of recent terror acts there.
"The order was issued by the President at about 8 p.m. on Monday, about half an
hour after a grenade blast in Ambon," Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Tuesday.
Five people were injured in the blast after a hand grenade was hurled by two
unidentified men on a motorcycle into a Muslim neighborhood in Ambon, the capital of
Maluku, injuring five residents, local police chief Lt. Col. Leonidas Braksan said as
quoted by AP.
Muslims angered by the blast attacked a bus carryingChristians in the nearby Kapaha
neighborhood, damaging the vehicle and clubbing its passengers. They also attacked
motorcycle taxi drivers, injuring a total of 14 people.
"Both Da'i and Endriartono were ordered to strengthen the intelligence operation and
launch a sweeping operation in Ambon," Kalla said.
Kalla speculated about the causes of the blast, ranging from jealousy among local
residents, individual incidents, provocations, or plans for the establishment of a new
state called the Republic of South Maluku.
"There is terror everywhere. One or two people can do it so the intelligence operation
is needed," Kalla said, adding more intelligence personnel would be deployed to back
up existing squads.
Kalla cited as an example a similar operation conducted in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
Within six months terror culprits were apprehended.
Maluku province was ravaged by Muslim-Christian fighting between 1999 and 2001,
leaving at least 6,000 people dead.
A peace deal stemmed the worst of the fighting, but sporadic violence continues in
the region. (**)
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