2 arrested over recent deadly blast in Ambon

Oktovianus Pinontoan and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Ambon/Jakarta

Police in Ambon are questioning two civilians in connection with a deadly bomb blast in a stadium on Thursday as the situation in the violence-torn city slowly returned to normal.

Military sources told The Jakarta Post on Friday that security personnel arrested a man, Mardi, and a woman, Since, almost immediately after the blast, which claimed the lives of four people, including three girls aged between 12 and 17.

Mardi, allegedly from Malino in Gowa regency, South Sulawesi, was arrested as he ran away after the bomb went off in Merdeka Sports Stadium. Since, a native of Ambon, was being held for questioning after allegedly inciting people to attack a rival group immediately after the blast.

"(Mardi) is being questioned as a witness," an intelligence source told the Post.

Meanwhile, the situation in the city of Ambon was slowly returning to normal on Friday, with people from both Muslim and Christian communities mixing with one another. Activities in the public market and public transportation services had also returned to normal.

On Friday, the local Protestant church celebrated a peaceful anniversary, showing that neither side had been provoked by the blast.

The death toll from Thursday's blast rose to four on Friday when a 20-year-old woman, who had sustained serious injuries from the explosion, died in hospital overnight.

The victims were young athletes training in preparation for the national student games. They were taking a break when the bomb exploded.

Eight other people were also injured in the explosion at Merdeka Stadium in downtown Ambon.

Thursday's powerful bomb explosion came just one day after Muslims and Christians there performed a pela gandong ceremony as a symbol of peace to end the three-year sectarian conflict.

In Jakarta, high-ranking officials suspected that the bomb had been planted by outsiders who wished to prolong the bloody violence between the two warring groups.

"There are people, outside the two groups, who want to destabilize the country. Maybe it came from our own people, maybe not," Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Friday.

He said that he was waiting for a report from local officers regarding the latest situation in Ambon.

"I expect the security officers to immediately hold a thorough investigation to find those responsible for the violence," Hamzah said.

In Medan, North Sumatra, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that he had ordered his officers to find the perpetrators.

"Whoever did it was a savage," he said.

However, he stopped short from explaining why the police remained at a loss to prevent the incidents.

Like most bombings in Ambon, the police have yet to identify the mastermind behind the string of attacks.