24 people killed in Maluku riots

JAKARTA (JP): Police said on Thursday that two days of communal clashes in Maluku had claimed 24 lives, while unrest with similar religious and ethnic overtones flared up in other parts of the country, including North Sulawesi, West Kalimantan and Central Java.

National Police chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi told a media conference here on Thursday that the death toll in the Maluku capital of Ambon had reached 22, while two more people had been killed in Sanana, North Maluku.

"The violence in Ambon resulted in 22 deaths, 102 serious injuries and 35 light injuries," Roesmanhadi said, insisting that the trouble did not involve a "third party" or have political overtones.

He said that around 3,950 people had taken refuge in military and police complexes in Ambon and that 700 police and 1,400 troops had been deployed on the streets to restore order.

Roesmanhadi said the rioting in Ambon had spread to the nearby islands of Seram and Sanana, where two people died.

He said a further two people were seriously injured in Sanana, while two churches were set on fire in the West Seram capital of Piru.

He said violence erupted in Ambon on Tuesday after a thug from the village of Batu Merah Bawah allegedly extorted money from a minivan driver identified as Yopi.

Roesmanhadi said Yopi had been threatened with a knife.

Yopi later returned armed with a machete to seek his revenge, but the predominantly Muslim residents of Batu Merah Bawah rushed to the defense of their neighbor and forced Yopi to flee, Roesmanhadi said.

They gave chase, but were unable to find him in the neighboring village of Batu Merah Dalam Atas, which has a predominantly Christian population, at which point they set fire to a number of houses, he added.

News of the attack spread quickly and rumors circulated that mosques had been burned and that Muslims and Christians were fighting.

Roesmanhadi said the violence then spread to other parts of Ambon.

He said that 88 homes were set on fire during the trouble, with a further 19 suffering heavy damage. Mobs also burned at least 22 cars, 25 motorcycles, 33 shops and 12 street kiosks.

Two public markets and 216 pedicabs were also set on fire along with three churches and three mosques, Roesmanhadi added.

Antara reported that Ambon remained tense on Thursday, with shops and businesses remaining closed. The news agency also reported that local newspapers were not published and local radio stations remained off the air.

An employee from the state electricity company PLN was quoted as saying that many areas in Ambon were blacked out after a fire damaged the city's power network.

"Power was disrupted in almost all parts of the city," Alex was quoted as saying by Antara.

He said that PLN employees were afraid to venture out onto the streets to repair damaged power lines.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, public figures from Maluku united in condemnation of the incident.

"(The incident) was shocking news and it might have been engineered (to disrupt) the religious harmony that has existed on the island for years," Mohamad Suleman from the Maluku Community Association told a media conference.

More violence

Meanwhile, four people were killed and another was seriously injured during violent clashes between two ethnic groups in West Kalimantan, Antara said.

Provincial police spokesman Capt. Suhadi said the brawl involved ethnic Malays and migrants from Madura, a small island which lies of the coast of East Java.

The news agency said that Tuesday's clash was triggered by an attack on a thief allegedly caught red-handed by Parit Setia villagers.

Angered by the attack, 200 residents of the victim's home town of Rambaian attacked Parit Setia, killing four people. Seven of the Malay attackers have been arrested.

Tension between different ethnic groups in West Kalimantan has existed for many years. In late 1996, Dayak people fought with Madurese immigrants, claiming hundreds of lives.

In North Sulawesi, at least six people were injured, nine houses were set on fire and a further 18 badly damaged in a fight between residents of the villages of Tabang and Poyawow Besar, in Bolaang Mongondow regency on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, three more violent incidents were reported on the north coast of Central Java on Wednesday.

Antara reported from Tegal that a former village chief's house was destroyed by a crowd enraged by the result of a recent election to choose a new village chief.

In the regency of Pemalang, 30 kilometers east of Tegal, 200 residents of Sugihwaras destroyed a village hall, an health care center, a mosque and an elementary school in neighboring Widuri upon hearing rumors that a man from Sugihwaras had been killed by residents of Widuri. The rumors were later disproved.

In the Central Java town of Pati on Wednesday, 120 residents of Regaloh burned a house and car belonging to their newly- elected village chief, Edy Suteja. (byg/har)