LAKSAMANA.Net, March 24, 2005 11:41 PM
Police Unable to Stop Ambon's Ongoing Misery
Laksamana.Net - Police have detained three men on suspicion of involvement in an
explosion that injured five people in Ambon, the religiously divided capital of Maluku
province, but they appear no closer to unmasking the masterminds of the ongoing
violence in the former Spice Islands.
Ambon Police chief Leonidas Braksan on Thursday (24/3/05) told Agence
France-Presse the three men had confessed to working as "assassins" prior to their
arrest on Tuesday. "We are investigating whether they were involved in the explosion
case," he said.
Two men riding a motorcycle on late Monday threw a grenade that exploded near a
public bus in the predominantly Muslim neighborhood of Batumerah.
Muslims responded to the bombing by attacking a minivan carrying Christians in the
nearby Kapaha neighborhood, destroying the back of the vehicle and clubbing its
passengers. They also attacked ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers, injuring a total of 14
people.
Monday's grenade attack was the second explosion in Ambon this month. On April 5,
two unidentified men riding a motorbike threw a grenade at an ojek stand, injuring
three people, in the predominantly Christian district of Lateri.
Last month, two people were killed when gunmen in speedboats opened fire at a
beachside karaoke club in the city. In the same month, two people were injured when
the Lai-Lai 7 ship sailing off of Buru island was sprayed with gunfire by assailants
traveling in a speedboat.
Maluku Police chief Brigadier General Adityawarman said Thursday he was certain
the perpetrators of all four attacks had received professional training. "The perpetrators
were really trained and professional. I'm convinced of that," he was quoted as saying
by detikcom online news portal.
Although Braksan said two possible suspects had been arrested, Adityawarman said
police were still searching for the perpetrators.
He said the explosions in Batumerah and Lateri were presumably carried out by the
same people and aimed at inciting communal violence. He urged the public not be
provoked by the attacks and to be on alert against further acts of provocation.
The perpetrators were "playing a game of cat and mouse with the security forces" by
first targeting the Christian neighborhood and then the Muslim neighborhood, he
added.
Adityawarman said both explosions were from ‘pineapple grenades', although the
one used in Batumerah was relatively new, whereas the one used in Lateri was very
old. "I was astonished that it could have exploded, as research from the scene of the
crime revealed it was a very old grenade."
He said that after questioning 15 witnesses, police had put together descriptions of
the attackers and concluded that one of them was not Ambonese.
Commenting on the attacks on the karaoke bar and the Lai-Lai 7, he said the gunmen
were obviously professionals as they had fired the shots from long range while in
rough waters.
He said police recovered 30 bullets that had been fired at the Lai-Lai, comprising 23
fired from SS1 assault rifles and 7 fired from an AK47 assault rifle. Both types of
ammunition are manufactured by state munitions company PT Pindad and are
supposed to be sold only to the security forces. Pindad also manufactures grenades,
as well as debarking machines used by the logging industry.
Bloody Background
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.
Braksan on Wednesday said National Police headquarters would send a special team
to Ambon to supervise the investigation this month's explosions, once he had sent
them a report on the incidents.
He said local police had questioned 32 witnesses over the karaoke club shooting and
arrived at a clear conclusion, but he was afraid to publicly reveal the result of the
investigation.
"From the witnesses' information, we have reached a clear result… But we are still
having difficulties. The problem is that there are still hindrances that are very secret. I
cannot reveal them," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
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 further strengthen the
military's power and to discredit the government.
Weak Intelligence
Retired Major General Suhaidi Marasabessy, who in 1999 led a special team of 19
Ambonese armed forces officers to investigate the Maluku carnage and find solutions
to the conflict, on Thursday said the ongoing violence in Ambon was due to the
weakness of local intelligence authorities.
"The intelligence unit in Maluku must put itself in order. I will notify intelligence chiefs
in Jakarta of this matter," he was quoted as saying by detikcom.
The formation of Marasabessy's Team 19 in March 1999 was followed by a decline in
violence over the next four months, although the respite was attributed to preparations
for the June 1999 general election.
Widespread savage fighting resumed with a new intensity in July 1999 after the arrival
of thousands of members of Java-based Islamic militia group Laskar Jihad.
Conflict researcher George Aditjondro has accused Marasabessy of doing little to
stop the mayhem. He notes that Moluccan sociologist Tamrin Amal Tomagola has
named Marasabessy and former armed forces chief Wiranto as being among a group
of officers "who worked hard to provoke Muslims and Christians to fight each other".
Wiranto has always denied fanning the conflict in the Malukus. In his autobiography
Witness in The Storm, he writes that the violence was due to "a misunderstanding
blown out of proportion by third party adventurists to incite war among people from
different religions".
He claims "it was not easy to find hard evidence with which to identify the
masterminds of these incidents".
Wiranto said Marasabessy's team only managed to bring peace to the Malukus for a
few months because "central government support for rehabilitation of Ambon was no
longer a priority" due to preparations for the October 1999 presidential election.
Old Pattern
Kutni Tuhepaly, a member of the Maluku provincial legislative assembly, on Thursday
said the latest Ambon violence was part of a long pattern of organized conflict.
Intelligence authorities should therefore be able to recognize the pattern and
apprehend the perpetrators, he said.
He pointed out intelligence authorities have been able to quickly arrest perpetrators of
bombings in Java, which is geographically smaller than Ambon, where no bombers
have been arrested.
"Ambon is only a small island. Why is so difficult for them to be caught?" he was
quoted as saying by detikcom.
Adityawarman responded to the criticism by saying he had a relatively small number
of intelligence personnel, although he stressed that they always worked in
coordination with other intelligence agencies. "So don't think we are not serious about
handling these cases," he said.
Brigadier General Syarifuddin Summah, chief of the Pattimura Military Command
responsible for security in Maluku, admitted his side was finding it difficult to catch
the perpetrators of the terrorist acts.
"The perpetrators are very shrewd and apparently well practiced in operations, which
makes finding them like looking for a needle in a haystack," he said.
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