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.