Ambon blast kills 3 high school girls

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.