Hamzah's planned visit to Ambon blasted

Muhammad Nafik The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The planned visit by Vice President Hamzah Haz to troubled Maluku province on Tuesday will benefit no one but the Vice President's personal political interests, analysts said on Sunday.

"The trip is actually not necessary. It will only serve Hamzah's own political benefits," sociologist Thamrin Amal Tomagola of the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post.

He said the Vice President was likely to try to "expiate" a blunder he made when visiting the detained leader of the militant Laskar Jihad group, Ja'far Umar Thalib, early last month.

Hamzah's meeting with Ja'far, who was being detained by the National Police in Jakarta, sparked criticism from legislators and politicians.

The move was rumored to have shattered relations between the Vice President and President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

During the visit, Hamzah is expected to launch an economic recovery program for the restive islands during his one-day visit to the Maluku capital of Ambon.

He will meet with Muslim and Christian leaders in Ambon, as well as local government and military leaders. He will also visit the Christian village of Soya, some five kilometers away from Ambon, which was attacked by a group of identified gunmen on April 28, 2002. At least 12 people died in the attack.

The violence erupted one day after Ja'far addressed Laskar Jihad members at a mosque in Ambon. Ja'far was arrested last month for allegedly stirring unrest.

It will be the first visit by the nation's second highest ranking official after a peace deal was signed by both camps on Feb. 12, 2002. In April 2000, Megawati visited Ambon in her capacity as vice president.

Thamrin added that Hamzah's visit had nothing to do with the settlement of the "core problem" in Maluku, where some 6,000 people have been killed in three years of sectarian conflict since January 1999.

The sociologist said that as Muslim and Christian leaders had signed the historic peace pact, deserting troops should be blamed for a series of fresh violent incidents there.

"The problem with deserters could have been resolved if the security authorities had enforced the law consistently," he said.

Another sociologist Imam Prasodjo commented, "the visit by Hamzah Haz will merely be a ritual".

But, he doubted that the Vice President's trip would be a success.

Thamrin said the visit would only be useful to help restore peace if Hamzah was "willing to convince Laskar Jihad members to leave Ambon".

Yet, he doubted the Vice President would do so during the visit, considering his close ties with leaders of the group.