Fear forestalls reconciliation efforts in Maluku

Fear forestalls reconciliation efforts in Maluku

Alain Bommenel, Agence-France Presse, Ambon, Maluku

Christians and Muslims on Maluku islands are trying to learn
again how to live with each other, 21 months after a peace accord
ended three years of bloody fighting.

But fear, fueled by memories of the thousands of dead, still
divides them.

A peace pact was signed on Feb. 12, 2002 in this archipelago
of 100 islands, once known as the Spice Islands. In September a
civil emergency was lifted.

Machete-wielding "red" (Christian) and "white" (Muslim)
militiamen have disappeared from the provincial capital Ambon,
which nestles in a bay dotted with trawlers and rusty freighters.

But ruined churches and mosques and hundreds of shattered or
fire-gutted homes disfigure the streets. Their faded walls bear
few bullet holes: neighbors and friends slaughtered each other
mainly with machetes or homemade bombs.

The conflict claimed more than 5,000 lives -- almost 10,000,
according to Christian sources -- and made almost 700,000 people
homeless.

"There has been quite a bit of a change in the past five
months," said Anthony Badha, a local United Nations humanitarian
official. "But fear still needs to be conquered and that cannot
be done in a day or a month or even a year."

Local officials too paint a picture of life returning to
normal and a continuing reconciliation process.

"Security has been transferred to the police," said Maluku
military commander Maj. Gen. Agustadi. "The armed forces will
withdraw in May 2004."

During the war Christians were chased out of mainly Muslim
areas and vice versa and refugees are now the main problem. There
are still 188,000 of them, official figures show.

Financial help is given to encourage them to return home and
rebuild.

But lingering fears keep Ambon a divided city. A "neutral"
zone, the former front line, delineates Muslim and Christian
sectors.

The zone, with markets, administrative buildings and a
commercial center, is one of the few places where friends from
the two sides can meet.

"It's not safe to return home and in any case my house has
been rented again," said Raihun Umagap, 41, a Muslim in a camp of
more than 3,000 refugees.

A sniper killed her husband in 1999 as he was leaving a
mosque.

Jacob Hukam has lived since 1999 in a camp housing more than
700 Christians. His son Pascal was born there.

"My house in the Muslim area of Batumerah has been burnt out,"
he said. "I can't go back there, I'm too scared. But I don't want
to live out my life here."

"I'm always scared and I don't know why," said Diana, a
Christian student aged 25. "But there was so much killing. Never
did we imagine at the outset that the situation would become so
terrible."

The conflict began on Jan. 19, 1999, with an argument between
a Christian bus driver and a Muslim passenger. Riots in Ambon
spread to other islands, plunging an archipelago once seen as a
model of cohabitation into chaos.

Almost two years after peace came, each side refuses to accept
the blame for the bloodshed and resentments fester.

The Maluku Christians felt threatened by Muslim migrants and
accused army units of siding with Muslims during the war. Muslims
accuse Christians of monopolizing local government jobs.

Both sides agree that outsiders fueled the conflict. The
Christians say some soldiers and national politicians provoked
and fueled the violence.

In May 2000, 3,000 members of the Laskar Jihad Islamic militia
arrived, bent on waging a holy war against Christians.
Authorities did nothing to stop the arrival, strengthening
Christian suspicions.

Last year Laskar Jihad announced it was disbanding and most
members left the Malukus. But some of them -- one hundred,
according to a Muslim source -- are still there.

"Laskar Jihad no longer exists. The war is over, We are here
for humanitarian activities, social work and for sharia (Islamic
law)," said Mohammad, 28, clad in a white robe and sporting a
wispy beard.

He was speaking at a small clinic run by five militants in a
Muslim district.

The other challenge is to revive the economy and find jobs for
young people. "Investors can come back, the situation is safe,"
said the head of the investment coordinating agency, Yodie Patty.

But 60 percent of foreign investment is in just one sector,
fishing. Since the end of the war it has amounted to just
US$183,000.

"The main problem is making Maluku people feel comfortable
again in their own land and getting them to rebuild," said Maluku
Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu. "It needs time -- a long time."