Five more Mamasa 'provocateurs' nabbed
Five more Mamasa 'provocateurs' nabbed
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
The Indonesian military (TNI) and police personnel arrested on
Thursday five more suspects accused of provoking a recent riot in
Mamasa regency, West Sulawesi province.
The arrests were made one day after the joint team of police
and TNI soldiers apprehended Andi Jalilu, the main suspect behind
the recent Mamasa clashes, which claimed at least three lives.
"With the arrest of the six people, including Andi, the
security personnel are now tracking down six other (alleged)
provocateurs in the Mamasa violence," said Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf,
the chief of South Sulawesi provincial police, who also oversees
the newly established West Sulawesi province.
The five suspects arrested by police were Burhanuddin, Darwis,
Sudarmin, Kasim and Yahya. Sudarmin and Kasim are allegedly the
persons responsible for provoking violence during an earlier
clash in Mambi district, Mamasa regency back in July. Meanwhile,
Darwis and Yahya were held responsible for violence on Saturday
last week in Aralle district, Mamasa regency, in which two were
confirmed killed.
The violence dragged on until Monday and another fatality was
reported.
Saleh explained that Andi Jalilu, Burhanuddin and Darwis had
already been transported to the Pare-Pare regency police station
in South Sulawesi for interrogation. The others should arrive by
Friday.
According to Saleh, besides focusing on the search of the six
other suspects, the security personnel were also doing door-to-
door weapons searches in Aralle and Mambi districts. The security
personnel also conducted patrols in the two districts to prevent
further violence from flaring up.
He claimed that the situation in the two districts was already
under police control, but some 1,500 refugees were still living
in refugee camps and their relatives' homes because they fear
further violence.
Local governments have offered logistical support for the
refugees, Saleh added.
The Mamasa conflict has simmered for over two years, since a
law was passed splitting Polewali Mamasa into two regencies:
Polewali Mamasa and Mamasa. The split drew strong protests from
the Muslim migrants, who are mostly clustered in the districts of
Aralle, Tabulahan and Mambi. The migrants fear that they would be
discriminated against in the newly created regency of Mamasa
because its indigenous, predominantly Christian population would
be in the majority. Besides the issue of religion, the residents
in the three districts also objected to the split on the grounds
that the three districts were much closer to Polewali Mamasa
regency.
The protests did not change the lawmakers' minds, and it
fueled tension in the three districts. Clashes first broke out in
September last year between residents supporting the split and
others who rejected it. Three people were confirmed killed in
those bloody clashes.