Another body found in shattered Ambon

Another body found in shattered Ambon

JAKARTA (JP): One body was found on Monday as security
personnel stepped up their search for weapons in the riot-torn
Maluku capital of Ambon, church sources and witnesses said.

Semmy Waileruni, the coordinator of a team of lawyers from the
Maluku Protestant Church, told The Jakarta Post by phone from
Ambon the headless corpse was found by residents in the Amahusu
area on Monday morning.

Neither the police nor the military could be reached to
confirm the report.

Witnesses said calm was slowly returning to the city after
weeks of clashes between Muslims and Christians. Some 200 people
have been killed in the province since the violence first erupted
in mid-January.

Reports also said the number of refugees sheltering in mosques
and churches as well as military installations was decreasing. In
January, the number of refugees at Al Fatah Mosque in downtown
Ambon reached 8,000, while currently some 400 people are taking
refuge in the mosque.

"The situation has been calming down in the past few days, but
the attacks on a number of houses on Sunday night caused
uneasiness among residents," Semmy said.

Antara reported that at least 15 houses in Soabali village
were set on fire on Sunday night.

Semmy also said that groups of people were seen turning over
knives, machetes and arrows to the authorities in Ambon during
the day. According to reports, some 200 weapons were handed in to
authorities in one day.

"A group of Muslims from Tulehu were seen turning over their
weapons to security personnel this morning," Semmy said.

A staff member at the local military headquarters told the
Post that security personnel had stepped up their search for
weapons on Monday by setting up roadblocks.

"They check passersby, motorists and search vehicles as well,"
said the staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Local military chief Col. Karel Ralahalu said on Monday that
security personnel released most of the 37 people arrested on
Saturday for carrying weapons and Molotov cocktails, adding that
they could be summoned for further questioning.

Meanwhile, Antara reported that security personnel were flown
by helicopter from Ambon to nearby Haruku Island to disperse
combat-ready groups of Muslims and Christians on Monday morning.

In Jakarta, Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto said on
Monday he would look into a proposal to revive a military command
area for Maluku.

"I will give special attention to this request," Wiranto said
after opening a new building of the National Resilience
Institute.

The provincial legislature last week proposed reviving a
separate military command area for Maluku.

The province is currently under the jurisdiction of the
Trikora Regional Military Command which also oversees Irian Jaya.
The command's chief, Maj. Gen. Amir Sembiring, is based in the
Irian Jaya capital of Jayapura.

Riot control in Maluku was handed over from the police to the
military last Thursday after troops opened fire on warring
Christians and Muslims on Wednesday, killing nine people. The
decision followed the replacement of Maluku Police chief Col.
Karyono with Maluku-born Col. Bugis Saman.

Local officials said the handover was ordered by Wiranto at
the request of Governor Saleh Latuconsina.

Meanwhile, protests against the violence in Ambon continued in
Java, Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

In Surabaya, the capital of East Java, the Islamic Al Falah
Social Foundation led by Bambang Junaidi and Muhammad Siroj told
Antara that more than 60,000 Muslims from Buton, Makasar and Java
had fled Ambon.

The foundation sent a fact-finding team to Ambon between March
2 and March 7. The team reported that 524 cars, 67 motorcycles,
1,862 pedicabs, 23 mosques, nine churches and 872 houses had been
burned down and 563 houses had been vandalized.

Bambang also said that thousands of kindergarten, elementary
school and secondary school students could no longer attend
classes because their schools had been burned down or their
teachers had fled Ambon. Many of the students were also forced to
leave the city. (byg/rms/har/27/30/44)