27 soldiers detained for desertion

27 soldiers detained for desertion

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: At least 27 soldiers were detained
after deserting 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 soldiers were 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 military regulations, troops from conflict
areas were not allowed to serve in their hometowns, in order to
ensure the impartiality of the military in these areas.

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