Tue, 25 Jul 2000

Military to deport 1,900 'jihad' members from Maluku

MALANG, East Java (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI) announced on Monday that it would soon begin deporting some 1,900 members of Laskar Jihad (Jihad Force) from Maluku as part of its campaign to restore peace and order to the area.

Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa, chief of the Pattimura Military Command overseeing Maluku, said most of the 1,900 fighters were rounded up in Ambon and its surrounding area.

In North Maluku, the presence of the Jihad Force was not widely felt because fighting was waged largely by locals, said Yasa from the Army's air defense training center.

They will be sent back to Java on Hercules airplanes or by ship, he said.

In Yogyakarta, the parent organization of the Jihad Force threatened on Monday to fight their war in Java or Sumatra if they were barred from protecting their Muslim brothers in Maluku.

Ayip Syafruddin, chairman of the Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaah communication forum, vowed that the Jihad fighters would resist any attempt to deport them from Maluku.

"Should we fail, we will take our holy war to other areas, including Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan," Ayip said.

He also warned that the deportation of Jihad members could ignite even more clashes between the civilians and military in Maluku.

"Governor Saleh Latuconsina has never been to the Muslim areas, so he gets biased information," he said in explanation of the misconception behind the work done by the Jihad Force.

He denied accusations that the Jihad Force were responsible for the recent clashes between Muslims and Christians in Maluku, stressing that the members were mostly conducting humanitarian missions to help refugees and the sick.

"It is naive and shameful to accuse Laskar Jihad of triggering conflict in Ambon," he said.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, also speaking in Malang, said an Army lieutenant colonel in Ambon had been shot by snipers in the latest violence in Maluku.

Tyasno, acknowledging weak intelligence in the Army, promised a swift and thorough investigation to apprehend the snipers.

The Maluku problem will be discussed at the Malang meeting, he added.

Military sources in Ambon identified the officer as Lt. Col. Hery Suhada and described his condition as serious. He was being treated at Latumeten Army Hospital in Ambon.

Meanwhile in Ambon, armed attackers continued to ransack the Urimesing area in the predominantly Christian Diponegoro Atas housing complex on Monday afternoon.

Security forces, aided by locals, managed to repel them but not before the attackers burned at least four houses in the area.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Firman Gani said on Monday that security forces had launched a massive sweeping operation in areas identified as the base of "unwanted outsiders", a term used to refer to members of the Jihad Force.

"Police are facing difficulties because many have denied they belong to the Jihad Force," Firman said.

"We will coordinate the deportation of these groups with the military, especially the Navy and the Air Force," Firman added.

Police intelligence sources put the number of Jihad fighters at 5,000 people.

Firman believes that the deportation of outsiders would restore peace and order to Maluku.

"Most people here are tired of fighting, and the riot instigators are the minority," he said.

He was at a loss to explain how standard military weapons had found their way to people involved in the conflict.

"For all I know, it's very difficult (for civilians) to get standard military weapons," he said.

Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina, who also heads the civil emergency status, promised on Monday to take tough measures against instigators from outside the province.

"We will no longer compromise with outsiders who have wrecked Maluku this bad," he said.

Meanwhile, a joint medical team from the University of Indonesia, the National Police and the Indonesian Military arrived at Pattimura Airport in Ambon on Monday.

The team met with deputy governor for social welfare affairs Paula Renyaan in the Gubernatorial office later in the day.

"The team of 40 doctors and paramedics will concentrate on the islands of Ambon," Paula said. (jun/swa/dja/49/edt)