Blasts, gunshots rock Ambon after ministers leave

Blasts, gunshots rock Ambon after ministers leave

Oktovianus Pinantoan
The Jakarta Post
Ambon

Bomb blasts and gunfire rang out in the eastern city of Ambon
in the volatile Maluku Islands on Saturday, just hours after two
senior ministers left to negotiate with leaders of warring gangs
there as part of the government's peace plan.

The blasts and gunshots were heard on Saturday night and early
Sunday in several areas, including Kebon Cengkeh, Karang Panjang,
Batumerah, and Mardika.

Explosions from home-made bombs were heard twice, local
military officers said, but added that at least five shots were
fired from several undetected locations.

Local troops later returned fire in the areas where the
shootings took place. No casualties were reported.

The episode took place only hours after Coordinating Minister
for Political Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf
Kalla, and National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar concluded a
one-day visit to assess peace efforts in the city.

Both ministers held separate talks with Muslim and Christian
leaders on Saturday to promote peace while reviewing the state of
emergency in the Maluku and North Maluku provinces, and to see
whether current steps toward peace are being properly instated.

Local residents said that the latest incidents of violence
were clearly aimed at foiling the peace efforts being made
Susilo, Kalla and Da'i in Ambon, Antara reported.

Susilo's high-profile entourage also included Indonesian
Military Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Djamari Chaniago and
other senior military and police officers.

Susilo said on Saturday that the two warring groups in Maluku
have shown the ability and desire to reconcile, despite their
basic differences on certain points; he was quick to add that he
was sure their differences would soon be solved.

Before flying home to Jakarta on Sunday after making a visit
to the North Maluku capital of Ternate, he said the government
will decide in one week whether to revoke the state of civil
emergency in the province.

Susilo said that the government was committed to fostering
peace in the Maluku islands, and was capable of doing so, as it
had identified most of the common obstacles.

A special team consisting of ministers, security officers, and
local government officials has been set up to draft definitive
action plans for talks between leading figures of the rival
factions, he said.

"We hope that between six and nine months from now, the peace
process will be finalized."

Djamari, meanwhile, said that on Saturday, military officials
made it clear that they would have no objection to withdrawing
soldiers from both Maluku and North Maluku.

"I am not talking about three battalions;" the withdrawal of
all troops from Maluku "would be no problem for us -- but please
remember that the military is a part of the nation, and it cannot
make the decision on its own," he said.

The general was asked if the military would heed local
expectations to reduce its 17 battalions stationed in the two
provinces by three.

"We are here, not because we want to be, but because it is the
government's political decision," he said.

The troops were sent to Maluku soon after the three-year
Christian-Muslim conflict grew out of control, first in Ambon,
before spreading to the northern part of Maluku.

Some members of society think that the military presence in
the provinces has worsened the conflict instead of improving the
situation, Antara reported.

Djamari said that such views were misleading.

But he added that criticism of the military was not a problem
for the TNI, because the institution has recognized that the
importance of its mission was not always compatible with the
immediate desires of local people.

Fighting between Muslims and Christians in Ambon first erupted
on Jan. 19, 1999, and then spread to neighboring North Maluku.
More than 6,000 people have died so far.

Attempts to persuade the feuding parties lay down their
weapons have been taken a number of times before without much
success.

Jusuf Kalla, meanwhile, said that funding was not an issue, as
the government had made budgetary allocations for a number of
trouble spots around the country.

More important was the willingness of the warring parties to
sit down and talk, he said.

Asked about the Rp 200 billion (roughly US$20 million) budget
agreed upon by the House of Representatives and the government to
go toward peace efforts in Maluku, he said that the full sum has
yet to be finalized.

The Rp 200 billion is part of a total Rp 5.5 trillion
earmarked for areas of unrest around the country.

When asked whether there were plans to send public figures
from Maluku to Poso in Central Sulawesi -- which has also been
hit by a three-year religious war -- Kalla said that the pattern
of the resolution did not have to be the same in the two regions.

Leaders of both camps in Poso both signed a government-
sponsored truce on Dec. 20 in the mountain resort of Malino in
South Sulawesi.

"We cannot impose the same truce on the two regions; there are
fundamental differences between the two," he said.