27 soldiers desert after being denied Ambon job

27 soldiers desert after being denied Ambon job

Yemris Fointuna
The Jakarta Post
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara

At least 27 soldiers were detained for desertion from the
Naibonat Military Headquarters in East Nusa Tenggara province, a
local military officer said on Thursday.

The runaway troops, all Ambonese, fled the headquarters on
Jan. 26 after being told they would not join a deployment of
soldiers to their war-torn homeland of Maluku.

Captain Longginus Lelo, spokesman for the Kupang Wirasakti
Military Command in East Nusa Tenggara, said the 27 soldiers were
found at the home of an Ambonese man who resides in Kupang.

The deserting soldiers had been members of Maluku's Pattimura
Military Command, but were assigned to the Udayana Military
Command overseeing East Nusa Tenggara and Bali when the religious
conflict first erupted in the Maluku islands in 1999, Longginus
said.

"Based on our investigation, the 27 soldiers left the Naibonat
headquarters because of their disappointment over their
commander's decision to exclude them from assignments in Maluku
and North Maluku," Longginus told The Jakarta Post.

He said that under the military regulations, troops from
conflict-torn regions were not allowed to serve in their
hometowns, which is meant to ensure the impartiality of the
military in these areas.

Longginus said local military authorities would decide on the
punishment for the 27 soldiers.

"Because they committed a disciplinary offense, the sanction
will be to hold them for 20 days," he said.

Meanwhile, Longginus said three senior Army officers, led by
former Udayana Military Command chief Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri,
visited the Wirasakti Military Headquarters in Kupang on Thursday
to inspect and brief the more than 300 soldiers who will be
deployed to Maluku.

The troops have undergone special training for their
assignment in the province, where some 6,000 people have been
killed in three years of fighting between Muslims and Christians,
Longginus said.

A peace deal was signed in February 2002 to end the violence.
While the deal has significantly reduced the conflict, violent
attacks continue to take place sporadically.

Over the course of the conflict there have been accusations of
the security forces taking sides in the violence and worsening
the situation.