C. Maluku still tense after riots<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): More people perished as the protracted communal
\nclashes in Maluku spread to Masohi, the main town of Seram
\nisland, over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Minor clashes and tension were reported on Sunday, although
\norder has generally been restored on the Central Maluku island.<\/p>\n
There were conflicting versions of the death toll, with Antara
\nputting it at 15 when the fighting broke out on Saturday. A local
\njournalist from the Suara Maluku daily, who identified himself as
\nPetrus, told The Jakarta Post by phone that at least 58 people
\nwere killed during the day. A keeper at the Al-Ikhlas Mosque in
\nMasohi, who requested anonymity, told the Post he saw six Muslims
\nand 30 others injured.<\/p>\n
At least two security personnel were wounded in the fray,
\naccording to the mosque keeper.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that most of the victims of the violence died
\nof gunshot wounds, stabbings and explosions from homemade bombs.<\/p>\n
Scores of houses and other buildings were gutted by fire
\nduring the unrest. Thousands of residents, whose homes were
\nattacked or who were fleeing the violence, sought refuge at
\nmilitary and public facilities in the small town.<\/p>\n
Local security authorities were not available for comment.<\/p>\n
The mosque keeper said the incident erupted at around 6 a.m.
\non Saturday when dozens of unidentified people threw homemade
\nbombs at Kampong Sugiarto, a predominantly Muslim village.<\/p>\n
Some three hours later, the village residents fought back.<\/p>\n
\"But minutes later a group of National Police Mobile Brigade
\nofficers arrived and opened fire on the crowd,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Petrus, who sheltered at a nearby Catholic convent in order to
\nsend information to his office in Ambon, said Saturday's clash
\nended with the burning and destruction of a number of houses in
\nthe Bahtera housing complex on Jl. Abdullah Soulissa, in Lesane
\nand Letwaru villages, dozens of downtown shops, the Masohi bus
\nterminal and a church.<\/p>\n
\"It's relatively calm now, but shootings and explosions can
\nstill be heard here and there,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Rev. Fin Seipattiratu, who lives in Soahuku, around seven
\nkilometers east of Masohi, said the explosions, believed to come
\nfrom gunshots, and the burning, continued on Sunday morning but
\ngradually subdued later in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
She said Soahuku residents had prepared to leave the village
\nfor fear of the escalating clashes.<\/p>\n
\"I can't leave because I'm a reverend. What if my followers
\nneed me here?\" she told the Post.<\/p>\n
The clash in Masohi was the latest to rock Maluku, once dubbed
\nthe spice islands, following bloodshed in Tobelo in North Maluku
\nand Ambon, just after a semblance of peace at Christmas.<\/p>\n
An official at the Ternate Logistic Agency, Yusuf Bin Ali,
\nsaid a throng of people stole 1,020 tons of rice stock stored in
\ntwo separate warehouses during the bloody clashes on Thursday
\nlast week.<\/p>\n
\"We will now run out of rice and won't be able to provide
\nenough supply for the people,\" he said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Tension remained high in North Maluku following the three-day
\nclashes, which claimed at least 265 lives, making it the
\nbloodiest sectarian riot the country has seen in decades.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people have fled their homes to nearby Ternate
\nisland for safety.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Ambon, the police and military confiscated three
\npolice standard guns of the Indonesian Military (TNI), 64
\nweapons, 22 homemade bombs and a Korean grenade which was also of
\npolice standard from residents in a massive sweep for illegal
\nweapons on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\"The three standard guns are two pistols and an SS1 rifle,\"
\nPattimura military chief Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela said as quoted by
\nAntara.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of weapons had been seized in the house-to-house
\nsearches conducted by soldiers and policemen. They included
\narrows, machetes and daggers.<\/p>\n
Following a raid in the Urimessing housing complex, a homemade
\nbomb which was thrown by an unidentified crowd, wounded two
\nresidents in the abdomen, head and feet.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and
\nSecurity Gen. Wiranto dismissed the possibility of seeking
\nforeign help to solve the communal conflict in Maluku.<\/p>\n
\"The important thing to solve the problem in Ambon is that
\npeople should obey the law,\" Wiranto said.<\/p>\n
Wiranto proposed a territorial separation between Christian
\nand Muslim groups before holding a dialogue between the warring
\nparties, with the government serving as the mediator.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore, other regions (in the country) need not give
\nsupport which could adversely create pros and cons, and not
\nnecessarily invite the intervention of foreign sides,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The rejection of foreign peacekeeping, however, was also
\nvoiced by many others including members of the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
The Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) had earlier
\ncalled for the participation of the United Nations to restore
\npeace in Maluku. The call was made in response to the
\ngovernment's inability to bring about peace after almost a year
\nof conflict.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Reform Faction at the People's Consultative
\nAssembly A.M. Fatwa shared Wiranto's view on territorial
\nseparation as a preliminary step to restore peace in Ambon.<\/p>\n
\"The separation is not a long-term solution but it can help
\nstop the manslaughter in the province,\" he told reporters in
\nMakassar, the capital of South Sulawesi. (emf\/27)<\/p>",
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