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

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)