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 01, 2002
THE SITUATION IN AMBON / MOLUCCAS – Report no. 231
1. NORTH MOLUCCAS WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE – During a meeting on national
level of the Governors of the Provinces of Indonesia, caretaking Governor of the
Province of the North Moluccas A.M.Effendie, when on January 30 interviewed by the
press in Jakarta, declared that the reconciliation process in the North Moluccas is
underway without any interference of the national Government. Our reconciliation team
– he said – consists of 391 members. The reconciliation process is taking place among the
civilians in a spontaneous, natural way; there are no VIPs and no underdogs, there is
no need of people wearing ties neither of luxury hotels, no bargaining around the table.
I do not allow anybody to call himself a "reconciliator". I hope the Government will
refrain from any interfering in this natural reconciliation process – he said.
2. MALINO MEETING POSTPONED – Jacky Manuputty in his second report from
Makassar provides the following items of information.
The christians during their meeting agreed on 14 points in which they are likely to
converge with muslim demands, whereas the diconvergence will doubtlessly center on
these two crucial issues: the muslims disputing any RMS / FKM activities and the
christians' disputing the presence of the Laskar Jihad.
Jacky says he was informed about one of the results of the Muslims' meeting, namely
their rejection of Malino as the place of the planned reconciliatory meeting. They
prefer a place somewhere on the island of Kalimantan (Borneo). But Cabinet Minister
Yusuf Kala most probably will not yield to this demand.
Another item was the planned nine months' period of cooling off in Ambon which had
been proffered by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo
Bambang Yudhyono during the recent meeting in Ambon [See Report 227]. This plan
is considered to have the hoped for effect only when seriously endorsed by the
military and police security forces. These should abstain from any internal skirmish
and from involving themselves in the conflict. Noticing the fervent wish of most of the
people of the Moluccas to end all hostilities, they should not lag behind but on the
contrary promote any strides towards this goal.
It was further decided upon that the reconciliatory meeting which was to take place in
Malino on 5-7 February, will be postponed until 11-12 February. Thus the Cabinet will
have the opportunity to have a closer view on the conflict and its issues. To this end
several Cabinet Ministers will visit Ambon again next February 5.
3. SOYA RESIDENT INJURED – Roy Souhoka (34), when yesterday gathering durian
fruit at a distance of about 3 km from Soya, a village high in the mountains near the
city of Ambon, was halted by three persons carrying standard firearms. When he
offered to share his durians with them, he was shot in his left hand. After he started to
run away, other bullets struck him in his thigh and abdomen. When interviewed in the
IC department of the hospital at Kudamati, Ambon, he only could tell that the
strangers when speaking among themselves seemed to use a Javanese dialect. The
police afterwards combed the area, however without result.
C.J.Böhm MSc,
Secretary of Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina
Received via e-mail from : Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina
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