One killed, two injured in fresh violence in Maluku

JAKARTA (JP): A Muslim woman was killed and two others were injured in a clash on Seram Island, Maluku, on Friday morning, even as Maj. Gen. Suaidi Marasabessy, the head of a special task force to restore security in the province, was visiting the region.

According to a Protestant priest, the woman was killed during fighting between Protestants and Muslims in Amahai district, Central Maluku regency.

"The woman was stabbed by an unidentified assailant," said the priest, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The military and police declined to confirm the cause of the death, saying the situation had returned to normal. Locals refused to talk, citing concerns for their safety.

"Can you guarantee my safety, if I reveal information to you?" a resident told The Jakarta Post when contacted by telephone.

Marasabessy, the commander of Wirabuana Regional Military Command overseeing Sulawesi, acknowledged it was not easy to end violence in the area, especially in Southeast Maluku, due to isolated geographic conditions.

He warned Central Maluku leaders about possible riots on Banda Island, one of the major tourist destinations in the province. He said 320 families had fled the island fearing for their safety, after the house of a migrant was recently burned by native residents.

He said the Armed Forces (ABRI) continued to experience difficulties mobilizing troops to remote islands in the province.

He told Antara that more battalions would be deployed in the province, including one from Jakarta which will shortly arrive in Seram and Haruku Islands, Central Maluku. He did not specify the arrival date.

Southeast Maluku will receive an additional battalion on Sunday, reinforcing the one battalion already stationed there since widespread unrest erupted in the regency late last month, Antara reported.

"They (the reinforcement troops) will be stationed on the islands of Dula, Langgur, Keil Kecil, Kecil Besar and North Tanimbar," said Rear Admiral Franky Kaihatu, the commandant of Maluku and Irian Jaya Naval Base.

At least 280 have been killed in Maluku since the outbreak of communal clashes in January. More than 100,000 South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi migrants, mostly Muslims, have been forced to return to Sulawesi villages. Many of them no longer have relatives or ties to their ancestral hometowns.

In another report, Antara said more than 156 residents from Weduar Fer village on Kei Besar Island were missing after their village was burned down by neighboring villagers on April 2.

In addition, a group of 27 villagers escaped to Elat after walking for about 80 kilometers.

"Since the outbreak of the riot, only four bodies have been found," said a refugee.

Pattimura Military chief Col. Karel Ralahalu, who is overseeing Maluku, promised to bury the victims if the bodies were unclaimed.

In Una and Ohoijang villages in Tual, the capital of Southeast Maluku, dozens of people looted staple food from two shops. Following the unrest, food shortages have become a serious problem.

Meanwhile Lt. Col. Annas, in charge of a military team assigned to rebuild destroyed houses, denied reports that his team had built houses without windows and door for refugees throughout the province.

He said the team had built 105 houses in Hunuth and Negeri Lama villages in Ambon and all of them were equipped with doors and windows. Each house costs Rp 5.5 million (US$600).

He said another 170 houses would be built soon.

Annas said the most serious problem for the project was that most of the damaged or burned houses had been abandoned by their owners, so the team could not get permission to rebuild them.

Separately, in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, at least one person was killed and 100 houses were set on fire during a clash between Dalo and Lao villagers in the regency on Thursday.

Provincial police spokesman Maj. Sismantoro said the fighting was triggered by a land dispute. Five people were killed in a similar clash last month.

The Supreme Court has ruled the land in Lanteng Mese and Lingko Hembet belongs to the Dalo people.

Sismantoro said police had detained five men. He said all of them refused to speak with police. (prb)