Maluku tense but quiet on eve of RMS anniversary
Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite the fears of unrest on the eve of the South Maluku Republic's (RMS) secessionist anniversary on April 25, war-torn Maluku, particularly the provincial capital of Ambon, was reportedly calm on Wednesday after an apparent brawl resulted in one death and serious injuries to three security personnel in Masohi, Central Maluku Regency on Tuesday.
"The city appears to be normal today and there have been no incidents reported so far. The market was busy this morning and people were on the streets as usual," AFP reported after speaking with Father Jonas, from the Roman Catholic Church in Ambon on Wednesday.
Jemmy, a telephone stall owner, in Ambon, told The Jakarta Post that despite the absence of violence, the city remained tense because most people were fearing fresh violence in conjunction with RMS's anniversary and the police and military's stepped up security.
"Most people are still traumatized by the three years of bloody conflict (between rival Muslims and Christians) and we're now facing another problem with RMS supporters," he said.
North Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina in his capacity as chief commander under the state of civil emergency, has taken a series of measures to impress upon the people that his office would take a hard line against the revived separatist movement.
Latuconsina, who heads the civil emergency authority set up in Maluku in September 2000 as a result of the sectarian conflict, has extended a nightly curfew by three hours, closed the province to foreigners and non-governmental organizations and imposed a news blackout on RMS activities for 20 days as of April 10.
Latuconsina has also issued a ban on entering the houses or their yards in the residential area around the arrested independence leader Alex Manuputty's residence in Kuda Mati Subdistrict in the city.
The ban, effective on Wednesday and to expire on Saturday, was taken, "in the framework of anticipating the hoisting of the separatist flag of the South Maluku Republic on April 25," he said.
RMS supporters have planned to hoist their flag to mark their anniversary but Maluku authorities have warned them against doing so because it was against the law.
The local police have detained Manuputty and accused him of treason for inspiring his followers to raise the RMS flag.
Since his arrest, some 200 Manuputty supporters have held daily protests outside police headquarters in Ambon to demand his release. They have also said they plan to go ahead with the flag- raising ceremony.
RMS supporters, mostly Christian, were believed to have worsened the sectarian conflict that erupted in January 1999.
Muslims have accused the predominantly Christian RMS of fanning sectarian violence that has ravaged Maluku since January 1999, killing more than 6,000 people, displacing more than 750,000 others, and leaving a swath of destruction.
Christians accuse Laskar Jihad, a Java-based militia group which has sent thousands of Muslim fighters to the eastern islands since May 2000, of playing a major part in fanning the violence.
Meanwhile, Amien Rais, chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, lashed out at the planned hoisting of the RMS flag, saying it was against the law because there could be no state within a state.
"The planned hoisting of the RMS flag must be prohibited. Should they (RMS supporters) go ahead with the plan tomorrow it must be prosecuted in accordance with the law," he said.
However, he was speechless when asked why the security authorities did not prohibit the separatist movements in Aceh and Irian Jaya from raising their own flags.