Maluku dialog ends with peace commitment

Maluku dialog ends with peace commitment

LANGGUR, Maluku (JP): About 1500 representatives from Maluku
at the end of a five-day reconciliation dialog here have agreed
to continue peace efforts in a bid to end the prolonged sectarian
clashes.

In a five-point message read out at the closing ceremony of
three days of dialog here on Sunday, they also proposed that
local tradition and customs be used to accommodate differences
among the groups that live in the province.

"We will strengthen our resolve to really end the continuing
disputes that have afflicted all of Maluku over the past two
years ... We also propose the use of local traditions as a
meeting point for accommodating the interests of the different
groups in the province," the statement dubbed the "Langgur
Message" said.

The participants also recognized that the message was only the
first step on a long journey of dialog to return normality and
peace to Maluku.

"We demand that all local traditional leaders, or Bapa Radja,
once again take the lead ... but at the same time support state
law and guarantee the acceptance of all migrants living in the
province," the statement said.

The message and recommendation were agreed upon after a series
of long and tense dialogs between local leaders in the province
in a bid to rebuild normal life there.

The message is to be signed by all the local leaders after
each group discusses the agreement further with their respective
communities

The representatives from Muslim groups in Ambon at first
choose to reject the agreement as an expression of their fear
that if they went home with the agreement, it could endanger
their lives.

"We in the local Muslim Student Association (HMI) underline
that if we (unilaterally) sign up to the agreement then we could
be rejected by our members," local HMI chief Hatab Kilbaren said
at the forum.

The dialog also concluded that the conflict erupted because
Maluku people forgot their traditional values and due to the
presence of outside intervention.

There was no elaboration as to what form this outside
intervention took.

During the dialog, which was organized by the Go-East
Institute, the participants were divided into six groups
according to their areas and each group discussed the follow-up
actions that were needed to rehabilitate the province.

The rebuilding of all places of worship and enhanced
cooperation between the religions should also be priorities so as
to remove the trauma caused by the conflicts, along with the
rehabilitation of educational facilities for the youth, the
meeting concluded. (dja)