ABRI sends special team to Ambon

ABRI sends special team to Ambon

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces (ABRI) dispatched 19 Maluku-
born officers back to Ambon on Sunday in an effort to stop the
communal bloodshed in the province's capital.

The dispatch of middle and high-ranking military personnel
came after overnight incidents in which two people were
reportedly killed.

Head of Al Fatah Mosque monitoring post Muhamad Nur Weno, said
on Sunday a driver identified as Ridwan Hamid was stabbed to
death in an ambush on Saturday afternoon, hours after a shooting
spree near the fire-bombed Silo Church killed Denny Latti.

Press reports saying another 13 were killed remained
unconfirmed while police could not be reached Sunday.

The ABRI special team comprises officers from the Army
Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), Air Force Special Command
(Paskhas) and marines. It is led by Maj. Gen. Suadi Mauarabessy,
chief of the Wirabuana Military Command overseeing Sulawesi.

Minister of Defense and Security/ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto
said the team was expected to restore peace and order to the
strife-torn Ambon during their one month mission.

"This team should be more capable of dealing with the conflict
because of their charisma, influence and access to local people.
They have psychological and ethnic ties with Ambon people,"
Wiranto said at the team's departure from Halim Perdanakusuma
Airport.

Wiranto told the officers to establish solid working
relationships with local military, police and all security
personnel deployed in the troubled province.

ABRI has posted 4,000 troops from four different forces,
mostly from Java, to Ambon since conflicts broke out on Jan. 19.

Separately, outgoing Maluku Police chief Col. Karyono said the
presence of a huge number of military personnel "is not the right
remedy", because of persistent hostility and vengeance between
the conflicting groups.

"The most important thing is the good will of the opposing
parties to stop clashing," he told Antara.

Wiranto denied the communal clashes stemmed from religious
sentiments merely because they involved Muslim and Christian
people.

"What is happening in Ambon is not a war between two religious
groups, but a conflict between two groups of people which was
instigated by a few provocateurs.

"There have been moves to incite the people to fight each
other for a long time and ABRI failed to keep up with them."

He also warned politicians against exploiting the Ambon
tragedy as a political commodity to discredit the government and
the Armed Forces.

ABRI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjamsul Ma'arif said a number of
suspected provocateurs in the Ambon case had been identified.
Sjamsul refused to unveil the suspects, saying that
investigations are still underway.

"(There is) no need to disclose them right now. Their
identities will remain secret until the investigation is
completed," he said after attending the ceremony at the Halim
Perdanakusuma Airport.

There were no reports of fresh clashes in Ambon on Sunday, but
the city remained tense.

The head of Al Fatah Mosque monitoring post, Muhamad Nur Weno.
and a staffer at the Silo Church, Els Appono, told The Jakarta
Post that locals had resumed daily activities, despite fears of
fresh outbreaks of violence.

Funerals for two victims of the Saturday clashes were
conducted on Sunday. Weno said the body of 21-year-old driver
Ridwan, was buried at Kebon Cengkeh cemetery in Batu Merah
village. Appono said the body of 21-year-old student Denny was
buried at Benteng cemetery.

Weno said Ridwan, a South Sulawesi native, was driving a
Kijang van carrying eight people, when an unidentified group
ambushed them at Galala village, three kilometers north of Ambon.

The mob set the car on fire and injured one of the passengers,
while the remaining eight managed to escape. Weno said the
whereabouts of one of the passengers remained unknown.

The wounded passenger, identified as Sumardi, is being treated
at the Navy Hospital.

Sonny Mamusu of Kudamati General Hospital, said 13 victims of
Saturday's shooting spree were in a stable condition but still
required further medical treatment. He said six other victims
were discharged.

Meanwhile, 1,000 people calling themselves the Ambon Muslim
Community took to the streets demanding the resignation of the
head of the Maluku religious affairs office, Hasyim Marasabessy.
The demonstrators, mostly from Air Salobar district, marched
along Jl. Sultan Baabullah and gathered at the Al Fatah Mosque.

They protested Hasyim's denial of reports that a number of
Muslims were killed in an Ahuru mosque last week. The
demonstrators threatened a holy war if the government fails to
resolve the case in three days. (rms/amd)