Police arrest wife, daughter of Manuputty

Police arrest wife, daughter of Manuputty

M. Azis Tunny
Ambon, Maluku

A joint police and military team arrested on Saturday the wife
and daughter of Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM) leader Alexander
Manuputty, as security personnel struggled to bring under control
renewed religious fighting in Ambon which has left at least 35
people dead.

Oly Manuputty and her daughter Cristina did not resist arrest
at their residence in Kudamati, believed to be a stronghold of
the FKM and the South Maluku Republic (RMS) secessionist
movement.

Alex Manuputty, who was brought to court and sentenced to four
years in prison for leading the rebellion, slipped out of the
country last year and is believed to be living in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II sent a letter to the Roman
Catholic Bishop of Ambon Monsignor Mandagi, offering a "heartfelt
prayer that public order and peaceful relations between the
various religious and social groups will be quickly restored", AP
reported.

Mandagi also appealed to the international community later on
Saturday to pressure Jakarta to end the violence and "safeguard
the rights of the people of Ambon to live in security ...".

Oly and Cristina, along with two unidentified supporters, are
being detained at Maluku Police Headquarters for further
questioning. Their legal status is yet to be determined.

"We arrested four people in the house, including the wife and
daughter of Alex Manuputty and confiscated documents on the FKM
and the RMS," Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Bambang Sutrisno
said on Saturday.

Besides documents on the FKM and the RMS, the police also
seized two RMS independence flags. The FKM was set up in 2000 by
Ambonese residents frustrated with the central government's
inability to end protracted religious violence there.

Renewed fighting between Muslims and Christians broke out on
April 25. The violence is the worst since a February 2002 pact
ended three years of religious fighting in which 5,000 people
died.

Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu welcomed the arrest but
regretted that information on the operation had been leaked and
no FKM activist was arrested.

"Other FKM and RMS activists will be arrested," he said,
adding that the police had complete data on the activists.

Meanwhile, clashes subsided on Saturday, but snipers continued
to sow terror in the religiously divided town.

At least one person was killed and seven others injured by
snipers in Latuhalat village, Nusaniwe district, bringing the
toll death to 35 since last Sunday. All of the victims were taken
to the Al-Fatah Hospital in downtown Ambon.

The conflict, allegedly triggered by a long march organized by
the FKM on the anniversary of the RMS last Sunday, has seen 238
people injured, 95 of whom are still being treated at various
hospitals in the town.

According to data issued by the Maluku administration, 536
buildings have also been destroyed in the conflict, including the
United Nations mission, and 2,317 families comprising 10,684
people have taken shelter in refugee camps in Sirimau, Nusaniwe
and Baguala Ambon Strait districts.

Those who have not fled their homes remain confined to their
respective sectors of the divided city behind barricades set up
on the streets.

Meanwhile, the Maluku governor moved to the newly built
gubernatorial office after two years of renting premises
belonging to state telecommunications company PT Telkom on Jl.
Sitanala, Tanah Lapang Kecil, Nusaniwe district in Ambon. The old
office was burned down in April 2002.