Maluku killing prompts warning from government

Maluku killing prompts warning from government

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The central government pledged on Sunday to deploy reinforcement
troops and take firmer action in order to restore peace in
Maluku, following renewed violence that left at least 12 people
dead and dozens of others injured earlier in the day.

In the worst violence since a peace deal was signed by warring
Christian and Muslim groups on Feb. 12, a gang of masked people
stormed the mountainous Christian village of Soya, some five
kilometers from the Maluku capital of Ambon, and killed 12
people.

At least 24 houses and a church dating back to 1876 were also
set ablaze by the attackers.

"The government will be harsher and firmer in dealing with the
(violence)," said Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare
Jusuf Kalla, who brokered the peace accord signed in the South
Sulawesi resort of Malino.

Speaking in his hometown of Makassar on Sunday evening, the
minister declined to go into the details of the new tougher
measures for those involved in or organizing violence.

He also refused to comment on who may have been behind this
latest attack and the possible motive for the violence, which
poses a severe threat to the Malino agreement.

In Jakarta, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar deplored
the attack, admitting that it was a setback for the Malino peace
deal.

More reinforcements will be deployed to beef up security in
the strife-ridden eastern islands following Sunday's violence, he
said.

"It's a pity that despite the Malino agreement, the conflict
is continuing in such a bloody manner," Da'i told journalists in
Jakarta.

The National Police sent 200 officers to Ambon last week ahead
of last Thursday's anniversary of the South Maluku Republic (RMS)
secessionist movement. During the anniversary, separatist flags
were raised in the city.

The killings on Sunday came two days after the Laskar Jihad
militant group staged a rally against the Malino peace pact,
which was signed after three years of fighting between Muslims
and Christians that left some 6,000 dead.

"It may be the end of the peace deal," Christian pastor
Cornelius Bohm told AP in Ambon.

"There is no doubt that it was Laskar Jihad who launched the
attack in Soya, Sirimau subdistrict," he said.

Eye witnesses said the attackers wore black masks and military
uniforms, and were equipped with military-standard M-16 rifles
and bayonets, swords, daggers and homemade bombs.

Some of the witness said the attackers appeared to have
military training.

Local security forces arrived in Soya after the attackers had
departed. Their late arrival was blamed by some for the deaths of
many of the victims, who included a seven-month-old baby, Agnesia
Souhoka, and his mother Mevita Souhoka. The two were found dead
with several stab wounds.

The bodies of some of the 12 victims were found inside their
burned out homes.

Prior to the attack, electricity to the village was cut at
about 4 a.m., followed by at least 50 bomb and grenade explosions
which could be heard in Ambon.

Many villagers escaped the mayhem by plunging into a nearby
ravine, but others were unable to flee when the attackers blocked
off all escape routes.

Fearing additional attacks, residents of the village took
refuge in the neighboring villages of Kayu Putih and Hatalai,
while the wounded were taken to several hospitals in Ambon for
treatment.

Also on Sunday, a group of people launched an attack at 9 a.m.
along the Mardika-Batumerah border in Ambon, where they burned a
house and detonated a bomb.

No casualties were reported in the incident, which occurred as
Christians were attending a service at the nearby GPM Bethel
Church.

A number of people took advantage of the tense situation in
Ambon to float four of the separatist flags of the South Maluku
Republic over the city tied to helium balloons.

However, security forces shot down the balloons. They also
fired warning shots to disperse a crowd of about a dozen Muslims.

On Thursday and Saturday of last week, RMS activists flew
their flags over Ambon tied to balloons, to mark the movement's
52nd anniversary.

The move angered many Muslims, who took to the streets to
demand that security personnel take firm action against RMS
backers and prevent further attempts to raise the separatist
flag.

Dozens of people have been arrested in Ambon in a number of
separate incidents since Thursday.

Ambon was tense on Sunday, with security personnel deployed on
many of the city's street corners. Security authorities were also
conducting sweeps across the city for sharp weapons.