Tue, 16 Mar 1999

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)