Police link local elite to Mamasa conflict
Police link local elite to Mamasa conflict
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post/Parepare
Police said on Friday they believed that local politicians
masterminded the latest violence in Mamasa regency, West
Sulawesi, in which three villagers were killed.
South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said a total
of 36 suspects, being held by the police over the Oct. 15 attack
in the town, were merely victims of local politicians'
machinations, who wanted to grab or retain power.
He appealed to the suspects to reveal the names of those who
ordered them to launch the attack on residents in North Aralle
village, Aralle district, who opposed a 2002 law splitting Mamasa
Polewali (Polmas) into two regencies -- Polmas and Mamasa.
"I know, you (the suspects) are only political victims of the
elitists with interest in political power. So, please tell the
truth about who ordered you all to do this -- be they a district
head, his secretary or a regent -- so we will know if they were
really involved," said Saaf, who oversees security in West
Sulawesi.
He was speaking to the 36 suspects, comprising 22 people
opposed to the split and their 14 opponents, who reached a peace
deal on Friday to end hostilities in Mamasa.
The accord was signed by representatives from each of the two
rival groups during talks brokered by the provincial police in
Parepare, some 150 kilometers north of Makassar, South Sulawesi.
Andi Jalilu and Berdnan represented the group that supported
the split of Polmas and the incorporation of the three mainly
Muslim migrant districts of Aralle, Tabulahan and Mambi into
Mamasa regency.
Their opponents, who wanted the three districts excluded from
Mamasa, an indigenous Christian district, were represented by
Sudarmin and Rajihu alias Ratihu.
The three-point deal included an agreement that anyone
involved in a further attack in Mamasa would face harsh actions
by police, which could include being shot on sight.
Before signing the peace pact, the two rival groups of
detainees met in the Parepare police station. They shook hands
and hugged each other.
The suspects, mostly relatives of each other, appeared to have
regretted their role in the conflict.
Saaf said the conflict should not have broken out among these
people because they were all brothers.
"This agreement must be respected. I hope you (the detainees)
sincerely fulfill this peace agreement to sustain a peaceful life
in the future and make sure there are no more victims," the
provincial police chief said.
The Mamasa conflict has simmered for over two years, since a
law was passed in 2002 to split Polewali Mamasa into two
regencies.
At least three people were killed when a clash first erupted
in Mamasa in September 2003. It continued in July and August of
2004.
The latest spate of violence took place last month from Oct.
15 to Oct. 18, when opponents of the regency's creation attacked
pro-split residents in North Aralle village. The riot spread to
nearby villages, killing three people in three days.
Muslim residents, who are mostly grouped in the three
districts of Aralle, Mambi and Tabulahan, protested the split, on
the grounds that they would be the minority in the new regency of
Mamasa, which is predominantly Christian.
The protest fell on deaf ears at the central government level,
which enacted the controversial law.