Maluku seeks Jakarta's help in expelling Jihad Force

Maluku seeks Jakarta's help in expelling Jihad Force

AMBON, Maluku (JP): The executor of the civil emergency status
in Maluku, Governor Saleh Latuconsina, called on Wednesday for
support from the central government and related authorities in
expelling the Jihad Force from the territory.

Latuconsina wants Jakarta, the military and the police to
prevent members of the force from embarking on ships at ports in
Surabaya and Makassar, the capitals of East Java and South
Sulawesi, respectively, which in the past have served as the
Jihad Force's gateway to Maluku.

"If the authorities, especially the military in charge in
Surabaya and Makassar, fail to do so, the conflict in Maluku will
be unresolved and leave us with piles of problems," the governor
said.

He added that the total isolation of Maluku would be the last
resort if members of the Jihad Force continued to violate the
civil emergency status.

The Yogyakarta-based Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Forum Jihad Force
said on Monday it would send 1,300 fighters to reinforce
thousands of others who arrived in Maluku in May.

The group's leaders insisted they were easing the suffering of
Muslims in the islands at the hands of what they called "a
Christian conspiracy".

Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Firman Gani said he would send
officers to neighboring Sulawesi's Makassar Port, the largest in
eastern Indonesia and the main embarkation point for people bound
for the Maluku islands.

"The officers will be deployed to check boats at that port. I
have also worked with police chiefs at other departure points to
prevent (the Jihad Force) from sailing to Maluku," he said.

He said there were approximately 2,000 members of the Jihad
Force in Ambon. "I've tried to communicate with their commanders
(about leaving the area) but to no avail."

Firman also said authorities were surveilling Muslim
neighborhoods believed to be sheltering Jihad Force members,
including the neighborhoods of Batu Merah, Waehaong and
Galunggung.

Latuconsina also suggested troops in Maluku be rotated out
every three to four months. "This is important to avoid
partiality and possible involvement in the ongoing conflict."

Tension remained high in Ambon on Wednesday as heavily armed
rioters shut down communications in Aster, Tantui district, by
cutting power lines.

The action resulted in a communications blackout in the
predominantly Christian villages of Hative Kecil and Galala, as
well as in Halong, Lateri, Paso and the Halong Naval Base, Suara
Maluku daily reported.

The city also is experiencing a shortage of food and medical
supplies for the thousands of refugees in living in makeshift
tents in the hills around Kayu Putih, Soya, Hatalae, Hukurila,
Naku, Telaga Raja, Mahia and Kusu-Kusu, all in the eastern part
of Jasirah Ambon.

Dozens of other people are taking refuge at the governor's
residence in Mangga Dua Atas, Ambon.

Poso

Meanwhile in Poso, Central Sulawesi, security officials
arrested on Tuesday an alleged mastermind of the violence that
claimed hundreds of lives since first erupting on May 23.

The man, identified as Fabianus Tibo, 55, was arrested in
Jamur Daya village, Lembo district, at about 6 a.m. on Tuesday,
the chief of the Peace Task Force, Capt. Agus Firman Yusmono,
said on Wednesday.

"Fabianus admitted to having killed at least 40 people during
riots in the villages of Sepe Silanca in Lage district, and
Moengko and Sayo in Poso Kota district. He is currently being
questioned at the Tadulako Military Resort Command and will be
handed over to the Central Sulawesi Police," Agus said.

Meanwhile, Poso Regent Abdul Muin estimated on Wednesday that
the violence in Poso caused at least Rp 200 billion in losses.

"The losses were calculated from no less than 4,000 buildings
destroyed in the violence," he said as quoted by Antara.

South Sulawesi Governor HZB Palaguna separately said he and
other governors in Sulawesi had agreed to send the some 36,000
people who fled the violence in Poso back to their homes.

"We will start returning them after the overall arrangements
and talks are completed in August," Palaguna said. (49/27/edt)