Govt prepares new agenda to stop fightings in Ambon

Govt prepares new agenda to stop fightings in Ambon

Octavianus Pinontoan, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

Maluku officials were scheduled to meet with the central
government in Jakarta on Friday with the hope that new concrete
steps would be taken towards resolving sectarian conflict in the
province.

Ambon Mayor Papilaya confirmed on Thursday that he, Maluku
Governor Saleh Latuconsina and other officials from the province
have been asked to attend a meeting to find ways to stop the
violence there, especially in the capital, Ambon.

"The Maluku Provincial Police Chief, the Pattimura Military
Command Chief and I have been asked by the central government to
accompany the Governor," the Antara news agency quoted Papilaya
as saying in Ambon on Thursday.

According to the agenda, all ministers and officials under the
command of Coordinating Minister of Political and Security
Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would also attend the meeting.

"Together we will set an agenda on concrete steps to solve the
conflict," he said.

The government, he said, must take necessary measures to stop
the violence by petitioning both Muslim and Christian groups to
create a truce to bring warring parties together to find a
comprehensive solution to the issue.

Peace will be impossible "if the warring factions are not
committed to stopping the violence," he said.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, Home
Minister Hari Sabarno and Susilo, he added, have issued a joint
decree ordering an end to the violence, intimidation through
terror, and bombings, but it was deemed ineffectual.

The sectarian conflict that erupted in January 1999 has
claimed more than 9,000 lives and left thousands of houses,
churches and mosques ransacked.

Tens of thousands more people have been fled the conflict and
now live in places like Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, East Nusa
Tenggara and Irian Jaya.

The fighting intensified following infiltration by militiamen
from other provinces, and because of an absence of rule of law
over the last two years.

Over the last two months, a recent upsurge in fighting -- amid
a state of civil emergency first imposed in July 2000 -- dozens
of civilians have perished in a series of bombings and fresh
clashes in Ambon.

Meanwhile, Harold Crouch, an expert Indonesia at Monash
University in Melbourne, Australia, cautioned against any
segregation between the opposing camps, saying it could stifle
the current reconciliation process and renewed social cohesion
between the religious communities.

"Compared to previous years, the situation in Ambon is
relatively better," he said.

"But territorial segregation between the Muslim community and
the Christian community could bring negative impacts to the two
sides. I could not imagine what would happen if this continues,"
he said told journalists here on Thursday.

Local authorities, he added, should encourage residents of the
two communities to gradually interact more with one another.

Besides, Crouch said, another obstacle to peace between the
two sides was what he called a lack of professionalism by
security forces handling the conflict in the field.

"This happens not only in Ambon, but also in Kalimantan and
Sulawesi -- many security personnel did nothing against those
violating the law," he said.

In an atmosphere conducive to recovery, the local
administration, as well as informal and religious leaders, he
added, should pay more attention to education, health and
transportation matters -- instead of blaming one another.