Ambon blast kills 3 high school girls
Novi Pinontoan, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
At least three school girls were killed and 11 others injured when a bomb was set off in Ambon just a day after the Muslim and Christian community performed a pela-gandong (brotherhood) ceremony to end the three-year-old sectarian conflict in the city on Wednesday.
The bomb which was placed in a packed gymnasium, Merdeka stadium, in the city and exploded at 5:45 p.m. local time, sending panic through the hundreds of mostly high school students who were preparing for a sports event.
The injured victims, who had not yet been identified, were rushed to the GPM General Hospital.
Security officials would not comment about possible motives behind the explosion while the investigation into the incident was still under way.
The incident was not only a serious blow to the Malino peace agreement signed by conflicting factions in Malino in February but also a fresh reminder to those who want peace, just a day after a reportedly successful ceremony between local Christian and Muslim communities in the city on Wednesday.
Witnessed by Fanny Habibie, a younger brother of former president B.J. Habibie, Ambon Major M.J. Papilaya and other local officials, hundreds of residents of the predominantly Muslim Sirimau and of the predominantly Christian Baguala marched peacefully to churches and mosques in the two neighboring subdistricts, signaling the beginning of the rehabilitation of the worship buildings damaged during the conflict.
At least one radical Java-based parmilitary Muslim group, with thousands of armed militiamen in Ambon and elsewhere, is unequivocally opposed to any reconciliation with other religious groups, and have been blamed for fomenting much of the violence since their arrival a few years ago.
Habibie also handed over financial assistance he collected from donors in the Netherlands to help repair damaged churches and mosques in the city.
All residents of the two subdistricts shook hands with one another to end their hostility, signaling a revival of the brotherhood among the two subdistricts' residents.
"This day is a historical moment for the two religious communities to end permanently the prolonged conflict as well as to cement the sense of brotherhood among us," Mrs Maimutu, chief of the Passo Villagem, said when the village's residents greeted Muslim residents of Batumerah, where the conflict erupted on Jan. 19, 1999.
Ambon Major Papilaya said that all people from the two communities should appreciate the financial assistance granted to repair the damaged churches and mosques for the donors' good intention and their own honesty to end the conflict that has brought suffering to the people.
The two communities were committed to repairing An'Nur Mosque built in Batumerah and the church in Waitatiri Larier. Both buildings date back to the 17th Century and were damaged in the past two years.
The city, also the capital of Maluku has been rocked by a series of terrorist bombs since the Malino accord was signed to end the conflict that has claimed more than 6,000 lives and displaced more than 750,000 people.