LAKSAMANA.Net, March 22, 2005 11:58 PM
19 Injured in Ambon Sectarian Unrest
Laksamana.Net - New religious violence in Ambon, the capital of Maluku province,
has left 19 people injured, reports said Tuesday (22/3/05).
The trouble started at about 9.30pm Monday, when a grenade thrown by two
unidentified men on a motorcycle exploded in the predominantly Muslim neighborhood
of Batumerah, injuring five people, Ambon Police chief Lieutenant Colonel Leonidas
Braksan was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Other reports said the explosive device had apparently been thrown from a blue car
driving past a relay station of state electricity company PLN and injured only three
people – Heri Purwanto (17), Arafik (20) and Rauf Kaplale (30) – who were all taken
to the city's Al Fatah and Al-Mukadeh Muslim hospitals.
Muslims sought to avenge the attack by attacking a minivan carrying Christians in the
nearby Kapaha neighborhood, destroying the back of the vehicle and clubbing its
passengers, including a mother and her child. The mob also attacked ojek
(motorcycle taxi) drivers, injuring a total of 14 people. Police fired warning shots to
disperse the attackers, state news agency Antara reported.
Authorities said no arrests had been made yet. Braksan declined to speculate on the
motive for the grenade attack and said the situation had returned to normal. Local
reports said Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police continued to patrol the troublespots to
prevent further unrest.
It was the second blast in Ambon this month. On April 5, three people were injured
when unidentified attackers threw a grenade at a group of ojek drivers in a Christian
district. Last month, two people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a karaoke
club in the city.
Ambon and other parts of the Maluku islands were the scene of fierce
Muslim-Christian clashes that erupted in January 1999 and left about 7,000 people
dead until a peace agreement was reached in February 2000. But sporadic violence
has continued and communal tensions have remained high.
Sectarian riots erupted in Ambon on April 25, 2004, after members of a banned
separatist group, the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM), rallied to celebrate the 54th
anniversary of the outlawed South Maluku Republic (RMS). The march turned violent
when Muslim nationalists hurled abuse and stones at the Christian separatists,
sparking clashes between the two communities. As the violence intensified over the
following days, hundreds of buildings were torched and bombs detonated, while
unidentified snipers shot civilians and police. At least 41 people were killed during the
unrest.
A team of elite police snipers was sent to Ambon last month due to fears of further
violence ahead of the upcoming RMS anniversary.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday ordered National Police chief
General Dai Bachtiar and Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) commander General
Endriartono Sutarto to intensify intelligence operations in Ambon in the wake of
Monday's violence.
"The president without delay instructed them to handle the entire matter," Vice
President Jusuf Kalla was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
He claimed the grenade attack could have been perpetrated by RMS supporters. "It's
unlikely this was from the sentiment of one or two people. Moreover, there is also the
criminal factor and the RMS factor," he said.
Kalla said Law and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin had asked the US
government to extradite FKM leader Alex Manuputty, who fled to America in
November 2003 after a Jakarta court convicted him of treason and sentenced him to
four years in prison for encouraging his supporters to fly separatist flags.
Manuputty continues to live in exile in the US, as there is no extradition treaty
between Jakarta and Washington.
He has repeatedly accused Indonesian authorities of fomenting the religious violence
in Ambon as a pretext for crushing his tiny independence movement.
He has also called for international peacekeepers to be sent to the Malukus and
urged the US and the United Nations to investigate human rights abuses in the
islands.
Members of the armed forces were accused of involvement in the 1999-2002 sectarian
strife in the Malukus, often taking sides with the opposing groups. Analysts
speculated that much of the violence had been engineered to discredit the
government.
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