Riot-torn Ambon suffers front sporadic clashes<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Sporadic clashes continued in the destroyed
\nMaluku capital of Ambon on Saturday and at least five more people
\nwere injured.<\/p>\n
First Sgt. Abdurrahman, a staffer at the police Bhayangkara
\nHospital, told The Jakarta Post by phone that at least five
\npeople injured from the clashes were admitted to hospital.<\/p>\n
\"Four are Christians and one is Muslim. They have bruises and
\nstab wounds, and two are still being treated here,\" Abdurrahman
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Wawan, a member of staff at the downtown Al Fattah Mosque,
\ntold the Post that Muslim houses in Ahuru village were set on
\nfire by Christians early Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"Reports have just come indicating that security personnel
\nfired warning shots to disperse crowds in the area,\" Wawan said.<\/p>\n
He said that angry mobs were also burning houses on the
\nboundary of the villages of Ahuru and Waihoka on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"Warning shots have also been fired as people there refused to
\nlay down their weapons,\" Wawan said.<\/p>\n
He also said there were reports of attacks on the state-run
\nIslamic Studies Institute in the Air Besar area of the city.<\/p>\n
At least 16 have been killed in renewed clashes with religious
\novertones which broke out Tuesday in the downtown Batu Merah
\nvillage.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the city was still tense on Saturday as shops
\nand schools remained closed and public transportation was still
\nnot running.<\/p>\n
\"The city is calm but we have heard reports that clashes are
\nstill taking place outside Ambon,\" a priest, Liang, told the Post
\nfrom the downtown Silo Church.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said that a few shops had resumed business in the
\nmorning with doors slightly ajar but ready to close at the first
\nsign of any trouble.<\/p>\n
\"The residents are still edgy as there are rumors on both
\nsides that there will be attacks,\" Liang said.<\/p>\n
Thousands have taken refuge in churches, mosques and military
\ninstallations since the violence broke out on Tuesday while
\nthousands of others have fled the city on ships for their
\nhometowns in Southeast Sulawesi and South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
\"The Al Fattah Mosque is not able to shelter anymore people,
\nso we have had to take hundreds of new refugees to the An Nur
\nMosque and the naval base in Halong,\" Wawan said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sidney Jones, Asia Director of the New York-based
\nHuman Rights Watch had said in a statement on Thursday that it
\nwas \"particularly important... for the international and
\nnational media to reflect information from both Muslim and
\nChristian sources.\"<\/p>\n
Both sides have charged the security personnel with being
\ndiscriminatory in quelling the riots.<\/p>\n
Jones said that international pressure is also important to
\nhelp ensure non-lethal forms of crowd control.<\/p>\n
Authorities have said more than 150 people had been killed and
\nmore than 350 others were injured since the clashes erupted in
\nthe province in mid-January.<\/p>\n
Official figures say 3,360 houses have been set on fire in the
\nweeks of violence causing about Rp 500 billion in material
\nlosses.<\/p>\n
The violence was initially sparked by a dispute between a
\nMuslim migrant and a local Christian driver of a public minibus
\non Jan. 19, the first day of the Muslim Idul Fitri holiday.<\/p>\n
Shortly afterwards members of both communities were involved
\nin full-scale riots.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Antara reported on Saturday that a journalist from
\nthe Medan-based Panji Demokrasi weekly was shot dead by a group
\nof unidentified people in North Aceh on Friday.<\/p>\n
The agency said that Mukmin Fanani, 37, was killed by a group
\nof men riding a motorcycle in Rayeuk Kareueng village in Blang
\nMangat district in North Aceh. Witnesses said Mukmin was shot in
\nthe head and chest by one of the men.<\/p>\n
North Aceh Police chief, Lt. Col. Iskandar Hasan, was quoted
\nas saying that the case is still being investigated.<\/p>\n
At least 21 people have been killed in the latest military
\noperations to quell the separatist movement in Aceh since last
\nDecember.<\/p>\n
From Sambas, Central Kalimantan, Kompas daily reported on
\nSaturday that communal clashes between Malays and Madurese which
\nerupted on Tuesday have spread to four districts in the area.<\/p>\n
The daily also reported that three of seven Madurese road
\nconstruction workers who went missing in the area earlier this
\nweek were killed by their rivals.<\/p>\n
At least 10 have been killed and 62 homes and a number of cars
\nand motorcycles were also set on fire in the clashes, the daily
\nsaid. As of Saturday the Pemangkat district was still tense as
\ntwo homes had been set on fire by crowds, Sambas police said.<\/p>\n
Local authorities had said the riots were sparked by a dispute
\nover a public transport fare in which one man sustained a serious
\nstab wound. (byg\/aan)<\/p>",
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