Gus Dur to lead religious leaders in Ambon visit

Gus Dur to lead religious leaders in Ambon visit

JAKARTA (JP): Abdurrahman Wahid of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
Islamic organization and several other religious leaders will
visit the ravaged Maluku capital of Ambon to try to rebuild
inter-religious harmony in the region.

"I will visit Ambon at the invitation from the people
there... along with leaders from Muhammadiyah, the Communion of
Churches in Indonesia (PGI), Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI)
and preacher Zainuddin M.Z.," Abdurrahman said after meeting with
Military Police chief Maj. Gen. M. Djasri at the Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU) office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

The group will discuss measures to restore religious harmony
in the area, and the impact the two months of unrest there has
had on the nation, he said.

When asked whether Amien Rais -- chairman of the National
Mandate Party (PAN) and former leader of Muhammadiyah -- would
join the group, Abdurrahman quickly replied, "Amien? No. He
doesn't have anything to do with this. He's not invited."

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, reiterated that the
communal clashes in Ambon and other Maluku areas, which have so
far killed around 200 people, were instigated by four parties.

"They are the hoodlums, right-wing Muslims, right-wing
Christians and members of the separatist movement of the Republic
of South Maluku."

He said that during the one-hour closed session with Djasri,
the two-star general attempted to clarify several issues
concerning the Ambon unrest, including the possible causes, the
involvement of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad)
members, and an alleged provocateur initially referred to by
Abdurrahman as "Maj. Gen. 'K'".

"I said that Maj. Gen 'K' is not Maj. Gen. Kivlan Zen (a
member of the Army chief's expert staff).

"I'm concerned because it seems that ABRI leaders are focusing
their probe (on Ambon) at Kivlan... I'm afraid this will
jeopardize his career," Abdurrahman said.

Kivlan complained to Abdurrahman recently that his refusal to
reveal Maj. Gen. 'K's identity had caused problems for his
family, because the media had insinuated that it was him.

"The Armed Forces (leaders) are up against the wall, trying
hard to gather sufficient evidence. ABRI is very serious... and
I'm urging its leaders to work harder," Abdurrahman said.

When asked why he did not reveal the full identity of the
alleged ABRI provocateur, he replied: "Of course I won't... But
I tell you, he is real. He exists."

Commenting on the session, Djasri told the media the Armed
Forces were checking all information relevant to the Ambon riots.

"This is a usual visit, not a questioning," he said.

Abdurrahman denied the suggestion that the session was made on
the request of ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto.

"What for? Almost every day, he (Wiranto) and Army chief (Gen.
Subagyo H.S) speak to me on the phone," he said.

Also on Wednesday, President B.J. Habibie told his Cabinet
ministers the ongoing violence in Maluku had nothing to do with a
separation attempt launched by the Republic of South Maluku
(RMS).

Following his meetings with Maluku leaders and other sources,
Habibie said people in the province were embarrassed by the
allegation that RMS had also provoked riots there.

"They could not accept this accusation at all," the President
said as quoted by Minister of Information Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yunus
after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Controversy

Minister of Transmigration Lt. Gen. Hendropriyono sparked
controversy when he said in Ambon last week that RMS had provoked
the unrest in Maluku in their bid to set up an independent state.

Most RMS leaders are living in the Netherlands, and Yunus said
they were too old to be actively involved in the Maluku unrest.

"There may be some RMS attempts to instigate violence but it
does not work at all," said Yunus.

Thousands of people have been displaced following clashes
between Muslims and Christians in the provinces. Some officials
estimate 60,000 Muslims -- many originally from Southeast
Sulawesi and South Sulawesi -- have fled the unrest which has
left about 200 people dead.

Muslim leaders have described the gory killings and unrest as
ethnic cleansing of Muslims. The Indonesian Communion of Churches
(PGI) has denied the allegations, terming the situation as an
orgy of senseless killing committed by both sides.

The communion also called on Wednesday on Habibie and the
government to take serious and wise steps in ending the violence.

In a statement quoted by Antara, chairman Sularso Sopater and
Secretary-General J.M. Pattiasina said: "We are calling on all
parties to be wary of the emergence of religious sentiment and
political fanaticism... that seek to make use of the unrest in
Ambon to further their inhumane interests."

The communion also described the suffering of the Ambon
residents, including those fleeing the area, as an insult to the
principle of humanity long respected by Indonesia in its
democracy.

Rights Watch

Meanwhile, an international human rights watchdog criticized
the Armed Forces (ABRI) on Wednesday for fatal shootings of
rioters in Ambon.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch also called on the
government to investigate accusations of bias in the behavior of
security forces, hurled by both Muslims and Christians.

"From Feb. 14 onward, most of the deaths took place when
security forces began implementing orders to fire on rioters,"
said Sidney Jones, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, in the
report, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post.

The report continued: "There is no question that an extremely
grave security threat existed and the security forces were
initially accused by both sides of standing by and doing nothing.

"When they finally did intervene, they shot bullets rather
than attempting to use any methods of nonlethal crowd control."

The report said the government should ensure that security
forces respect the basic principle on the use of firearms by law
enforcement officers and that "troops assigned to Ambon are fully
equipped with nonlethal methods of crowd control".

"Of particular importance to Ambon is principle that law
enforcers, in carrying out their duty, shall, as far as possible,
apply nonviolent means before resorting to the use of force and
firearms."

The report said that the local press, many senior officials in
the government, opposition and many Jakarta-based diplomats
believe the violence was provoked as part of a nationwide
strategy of rogue military officers linked to former president
Soeharto to disrupt the forthcoming June elections.

Local leaders in Ambon tend to consider the violence as
locally instigated for narrow communal goals, the report said.

"In either case, the government of Soeharto's successor,
Habibie, seems to have been half-hearted about investigating
allegations of provocation at either the national or local
level."

It also said that imposing a state of civil emergency in Ambon
and surrounding islands should be avoided at all costs.

"With the very clear exacerbation of the situation caused by
the presence of security forces with orders to fire on rioters,
additional measures that allow the military to bypass normal
civil rights safeguards are likely to make things worse."

It also called on the government to acknowledge the terrible
losses that Muslims and Christians have suffered. (byg/swe/edt/prb)