ABRI sends special team to Ambon<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) dispatched 19 Maluku-
\nborn officers back to Ambon on Sunday in an effort to stop the
\ncommunal bloodshed in the province's capital.<\/p>\n
The dispatch of middle and high-ranking military personnel
\ncame after overnight incidents in which two people were
\nreportedly killed.<\/p>\n
Head of Al Fatah Mosque monitoring post Muhamad Nur Weno, said
\non Sunday a driver identified as Ridwan Hamid was stabbed to
\ndeath in an ambush on Saturday afternoon, hours after a shooting
\nspree near the fire-bombed Silo Church killed Denny Latti.<\/p>\n
Press reports saying another 13 were killed remained
\nunconfirmed while police could not be reached Sunday.<\/p>\n
The ABRI special team comprises officers from the Army
\nStrategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), Air Force Special Command
\n(Paskhas) and marines. It is led by Maj. Gen. Suadi Mauarabessy,
\nchief of the Wirabuana Military Command overseeing Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Minister of Defense and Security\/ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto
\nsaid the team was expected to restore peace and order to the
\nstrife-torn Ambon during their one month mission.<\/p>\n
"This team should be more capable of dealing with the conflict
\nbecause of their charisma, influence and access to local people.
\nThey have psychological and ethnic ties with Ambon people,"
\nWiranto said at the team's departure from Halim Perdanakusuma
\nAirport.<\/p>\n
Wiranto told the officers to establish solid working
\nrelationships with local military, police and all security
\npersonnel deployed in the troubled province.<\/p>\n
ABRI has posted 4,000 troops from four different forces,
\nmostly from Java, to Ambon since conflicts broke out on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n
Separately, outgoing Maluku Police chief Col. Karyono said the
\npresence of a huge number of military personnel "is not the right
\nremedy", because of persistent hostility and vengeance between
\nthe conflicting groups.<\/p>\n
"The most important thing is the good will of the opposing
\nparties to stop clashing," he told Antara.<\/p>\n
Wiranto denied the communal clashes stemmed from religious
\nsentiments merely because they involved Muslim and Christian
\npeople.<\/p>\n
"What is happening in Ambon is not a war between two religious
\ngroups, but a conflict between two groups of people which was
\ninstigated by a few provocateurs.<\/p>\n
"There have been moves to incite the people to fight each
\nother for a long time and ABRI failed to keep up with them."<\/p>\n
He also warned politicians against exploiting the Ambon
\ntragedy as a political commodity to discredit the government and
\nthe Armed Forces.<\/p>\n
ABRI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjamsul Ma'arif said a number of
\nsuspected provocateurs in the Ambon case had been identified.
\nSjamsul refused to unveil the suspects, saying that
\ninvestigations are still underway.<\/p>\n
"(There is) no need to disclose them right now. Their
\nidentities will remain secret until the investigation is
\ncompleted," he said after attending the ceremony at the Halim
\nPerdanakusuma Airport.<\/p>\n
There were no reports of fresh clashes in Ambon on Sunday, but
\nthe city remained tense.<\/p>\n
The head of Al Fatah Mosque monitoring post, Muhamad Nur Weno.
\nand a staffer at the Silo Church, Els Appono, told The Jakarta
\nPost that locals had resumed daily activities, despite fears of
\nfresh outbreaks of violence.<\/p>\n
Funerals for two victims of the Saturday clashes were
\nconducted on Sunday. Weno said the body of 21-year-old driver
\nRidwan, was buried at Kebon Cengkeh cemetery in Batu Merah
\nvillage. Appono said the body of 21-year-old student Denny was
\nburied at Benteng cemetery.<\/p>\n
Weno said Ridwan, a South Sulawesi native, was driving a
\nKijang van carrying eight people, when an unidentified group
\nambushed them at Galala village, three kilometers north of Ambon.<\/p>\n
The mob set the car on fire and injured one of the passengers,
\nwhile the remaining eight managed to escape. Weno said the
\nwhereabouts of one of the passengers remained unknown.<\/p>\n
The wounded passenger, identified as Sumardi, is being treated
\nat the Navy Hospital.<\/p>\n
Sonny Mamusu of Kudamati General Hospital, said 13 victims of
\nSaturday's shooting spree were in a stable condition but still
\nrequired further medical treatment. He said six other victims
\nwere discharged.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 1,000 people calling themselves the Ambon Muslim
\nCommunity took to the streets demanding the resignation of the
\nhead of the Maluku religious affairs office, Hasyim Marasabessy.
\nThe demonstrators, mostly from Air Salobar district, marched
\nalong Jl. Sultan Baabullah and gathered at the Al Fatah Mosque.<\/p>\n
They protested Hasyim's denial of reports that a number of
\nMuslims were killed in an Ahuru mosque last week. The
\ndemonstrators threatened a holy war if the government fails to
\nresolve the case in three days. (rms\/amd)<\/p>",
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