More dead after latest Ambon conflict

More dead after latest Ambon conflict

AMBON, Maluku (JP): At least one person was killed and another
wounded in a brawl between two groups of farmers on remote
Saparua Island on Thursday, police said.

But a staff member at a state hospital on the island, about a
three-hour boat ride from Ambon, put the number of fatalities at
three, with dozens of others injured. He said two villagers
identified as Gany Sanaky and Obet Kaplale and a member of the
local police, Corp. Tjao Huwaa, died in the clash which involved
residents of Ulath and Sirisori villages.

Hospital staff said Saparua Police chief Second Lt. A.R.
Tatuh, his Elite Police Mobile Brigade counterpart, Second Lt.
Noija, and dozens of people from the two villages were being
treated for stab wounds.

There was no immediate report of arrests following the
incident.

Tension prevailed on the island until late in the afternoon as
sporadic clashes were reported.

Maluku Police spokesman Maj. Jekriel Philips said here the
identity of the resident killed during the clash remained
unknown.

He dismissed speculations that religious issues were behind
the latest violence which has seized the archipelagic province.
He said the conflict was triggered by a dispute over attacks on
300 clove trees belonging to 11 farmers.

"It was a common fight, and we have called on people in the
province to keep their cool," he said.

Ulath is predominantly Christian, while in Sirisori Muslim and
Christian populations are evenly balanced.

Months of conflicts between Christians and Muslims across the
spice islands have claimed over 400 lives since they first
erupted in January.

A peace pact between the groups was agreed on in May, but
violence has continued. A mass brawl between school students
exploded last week, but nobody was killed.

Jekriel said the most recent clash, which broke out at around
7 a.m. local time, should have been anticipated because there was
an earlier alert from the military, police and Saparua district
chief that tension was on the rise after security authorities
failed to take measures against alleged attackers of the clove
trees.

"The way the fight exploded was a surprise. It broke out all
of a sudden," Jekriel said.

Maluku Police chief Col. Bugis Saman and a reinforcement force
composed of some 60 Elite Police Mobile Brigade and 30 infantry
from the Maluku Military command had arrived in Saparua, the
birthplace of national hero Pattimura.

The Mobile Brigade were part of hundreds of security personnel
dispatched here from East Java and Sulawesi to replace Marine
Corps and Army Strategic Reserve Command soldiers, who were
posted here shortly after communal clashes started in January.

Ambon was calm despite rumors of renewed rioting following the
brawl in Saparua. Rain drenched the Maluku capital throughout the
day.

Separately, in Central Lampung, order was restored on Thursday
following a mass brawl overnight between residents from
Payungrejo, Nyukangharjo and Payungbatu villages and their Negeri
Kepayungan neighbors. A man identified as Herman, 38, was killed
in the clash.

Lampung Police spokesman Maj. John Hutabarat told Antara
Herman was beaten to death after being accused of provoking an
earlier conflict between the villagers on Tuesday.(48/amd)