The Jakarta Post, 31 Jan. 2002
Maluku warring groups set for talks next week
MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): Government negotiators met separately with
Muslim and Christian leaders on Wednesday in the South Sulawesi capital of
Makassar as part of efforts to end years of sectarian fighting in the Maluku islands,
which has leftsome 6,000 people dead.
The meeting was aimed at laying the groundwork for formal peace talks between the
warring parties scheduled for Feb. 5 and 7 in the South Sulawesi hill resort of Malino.
The mediators, led by Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs Jusuf Kalla, held talks
with Christian representatives at the Losari Beach Hotel in Makassar, followed by a
meeting with Muslim representatives at the city's Kenari Hotel.
Present at the meetings were Maluku Governor SalehLatuconsina, senior local
legislators, South Sulawesi Governor HZB Palaguna and senior officers from the
National Police and Indonesian Military.
The talks were aimed at outlining an agenda to guide discussion at next week's
meeting in Malino.
Kalla, speaking to journalists after meeting the Christian delegation, declined to give
details of Wednesday's discussion.
"The meeting in Makassar is an informal forum following the earlier talks in Ambon,"
he said. "We are optimistic about theprospect of upcoming peace talks because there
has been a significant development on the part of the Christian group." He refused to
elaborate further.
Kalla and Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono visited Maluku and North Maluku provinces on Jan. 25 and 26, during
which they met separately with both factions.
The two feuding groups were each represented by 15 delegates.
The Muslim delegation was led by Abdul Wahab Polpoke and the Christian
representatives by Rev. Mandagi.
They will return home to the Maluku capital of Ambon on Thursday to disseminate the
outcomes of the informal meeting among their respective followers, before flying back
to Malino on Feb. 4.
Malino was the venue for successful peace talks hosted by the central government
last month, which ended the sectarian unrest in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
The meeting, sponsored by Minister Jusuf Kalla, ended with an agreement to halt
more than two years of communal violence that had claimed the lives of thousands of
people in Poso.
It remains unclear whether leaders of the militant Java-based Laskar Jihad group,
blamed for worsening the conflicts in the Malukus, were part of the Muslim delegation
on Wednesday.
Thamrin Ely, a leader of the Islamic community in Maluku who also heads the
provincial branch of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the group would be
involved in the formal peace talks.
"The participation of Laskar Jihad in 'the Meeting for Maluku' is part of an agreement
between Muslim figures and the central government in Ambon," he was quoted by
Antara as saying.
Susilo and other senior officials in Jakarta on Wednesday denied that the involvement
of the group had been agreed upon.
They were vague on details of the venue and timing of the talks.
The chief security minister simply said the negotiations would be held this month
outside Maluku.
He said the government was not in a position to dictate to the Maluku people on how
and where the mechanism of reconciliation should take place.
"We only want to respond to an objection raised by locals during our recent visit
there, as the Christian group said that Ambon, as well as other cities in Maluku, was
not suitable for the event as thousands of Laskar Jihad are currently there.
"A similar objection was also voiced by the Muslim group who blamed the presence of
FKM (the Maluku Sovereignty Front) -- part of the South Maluku Republic (RMS)'s
movement -- for fomentingdisturbances to the reconciliation process," Susilo said.
It was unclear whether FKM leaders would be included in the talks.
The peace talks are designed to seek an agreement on halting the violence, forming
an acceptable basis for a judicial process, setting up a team of peace monitors and
starting a repatriation program for the some 500,000 refugees who were forced to
fleetheir homes as a result of the conflict. (27)
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