Military takes control in Ambon
JAKARTA (JP): The military took over riot control in Ambon from police on Thursday as sporadic clashes in the city continued, witnesses and a senior police officer said.
Lt. Col. Riswadi, head of the Maluku Police's command post, told The Jakarta Post by phone from Ambon that Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto ordered the transfer of authority to cope with the continuing clashes.
"Riot control has been handed over to the military because they have a greater number of troops. We hope that from now on riot control will be more effective," Riswadi said.
Wiranto sent about 2,000 reinforcements -- one battalion of marines and two battalions of troops from the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) -- from Java last week to quell clashes between Muslims and Christians which have killed at least 182 people since mid-January.
"The military deployment and the handover of the riot control command were made at the request of (Maluku) Governor Saleh Latuconsina," Riswadi said.
Meanwhile, National Police deputy chief Lt. Gen. Nana Permana swore in Col. Bugis Saman as the new Maluku Police chief. Bugis replaces Col. Karyono.
"Don't speculate that the handover could worsen the riots here," Nana told Antara.
Also in Ambon, Muhammad Nur Weno, an activist at the Al Fatah mosque, told the Post that at least two Muslims were killed after personnel from the police's Mobile Brigade opened fire on residents battling with crude weapons and Molotov cocktails in Tantui on Thursday.
"Faisal Marasabessy and another man who remains unidentified died at the Al Fatah clinic," Weno said. Antara identified the other victim as Abubakar Namkatu.
Police could not be reached to confirm the incident.
Weno said clashes also erupted in the areas of Diponegoro and Batu Merah at about 5 a.m. local time on Thursday.
Batu Merah has seen some of the worse violence since clashes between Muslims and Christians reignited on Feb. 23.
"The situation has been calm since the afternoon, maybe because of the rain. I guess people don't want to fight in the rain," Weno said.
On Wednesday, Christians and Muslims armed with crude weapons and Molotov cocktails clashed in downtown Ambon.
Hospital sources said at least seven people were killed and 30 more injured after security personnel opened fire on the warring residents.
Despite the continuing conflicts, Governor Saleh told Antara on Thursday there was no need to order a state of emergency in the province.
"What we are trying to do right now is establish a safe and calm situation so that the people can resume their activities."
Separately, the World Food Program (WFP) issued a report warning of worsening food shortages in Ambon.
The report said food imports had dropped by 75 percent because ships were reluctant to dock in Ambon and traders had stopped keeping food "in stores which could be burned down at any moment".
Silvana Giuffrida, a program officer with the WFP who just returned from Ambon, told the Post on Thursday five to six ships carrying supplies usually docked in Ambon every week.
"Now there is only one or two ships docking every week."
The report also emphasized the urgent need to supply children with milk.
"There is no milk stock in the city. Milk is 100 percent imported from Surabaya and Jakarta. For the past month there has been no milk shipped," the report said.
In a survey conducted in Ambon and the surrounding areas between March 1 and March 5, the WFP counted some 33,000 displaced people, 18,554 in Ambon alone.
Some 3,500 houses have been destroyed and the city's biggest market and 700 shops have been burned down.
The violence was initially sparked by a dispute between a Muslim migrant and a local Christian public minibus driver on Jan. 19.
This dispute quickly degenerated into full-scale riots involving members of both religious communities. (byg)