Govenment denies plans to lift Maluku civil emergency status
Govenment denies plans to lift Maluku civil emergency status
JAKARTA (JP): The government denied on Thursday having made
plans to lift the civil emergency status in the conflict-ridden
Maluku and North Maluku provinces, despite its failure to bring
peace and order in the territories.
"There is no plan to lift the civil emergency status in
Maluku," Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simandjuntak said after a
Cabinet meeting at the Bina Graha presidential office.
Before the Cabinet session, Coordinating Minister for
Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
however, hinted that the government was considering lifting the
civil emergency status in both provinces.
The state of civil emergency in Maluku and North Maluku has
been imposed since June 27 this year as part of the efforts to
put an end to the prolonged sectarian and communal clashes in
both provinces.
As the Cabinet was deciding not to lift the status, fresh
unrest broke out in four villages in Sirimau and in Teluk Ambon
Baguala districts in Ambon on Thursday morning.
Hundreds of armed men from Tantui and Galunggung areas
initiated the attack with mortar fire and sporadic small-arms
fire.
Security personnel responded and three soldiers were seriously
injured and rushed to the Naval hospital. Five attackers were
reportedly killed and 14 others were wounded and were taken to a
clinic at Al-Fatah mosque compound.
Dozens of empty houses, evacuated after previous attacks, were
burned.
Separately, Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina said on Thursday
that a persuasive approach would not end the violence and the
civil emergency leaders had to resort to repressive approaches,
including to shoot-on-site belligerents breaking the peace.
Later in the afternoon, a Jakarta-based European Union
delegation with members from Germany, France, Great Britain, the
Netherlands, Belgian, Swedia, Portugal and Greece arrived at
Pattimura airport, Ambon.
The delegation met with Latuconsina, deputy for public welfare
affairs, Paula Renyaan, Ambon Mayor Chris Tanasale and staff of
the civil emergency at the Gubernatorial office in Ambon.
The delegation was escorted by one truckload of military
personnel and was forced to use sea transportation to reach the
city because belligerents had launched fresh attacks at nearby
villages.
In the meeting, the delegation asked about the implementation
of the state of civil emergency, the latest incidents, the
handling of refugees, as well as the presence of Yogyakarta-based
Jihad Force and their ammunition supplies.
The EU delegation will also meet Pattimura Military Commander
Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa, Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Firman
Gani, the Maluku office of Indonesian Council of Ulemas and the
Maluku Protestant Church before leaving for Ternate, the capital
city of North Maluku. (49/lup/imn)