Police, military chiefs meet to clear the air

AMBON, Maluku (JP): Military and police commanders in Maluku sat down together on Tuesday to patch-up growing rivalry and antagonism amongst their personnel on the field.

Pattimura Military chief of staff Col. Syarifuddin Sumah who hosted the meeting at his headquarters, admitted that discussions centered around the "sporadic communal conflicts and dispute between personnel."

"We hope that none of these incidents will recur in the future," Syarifuddin remarked.

Last week a gunfight erupted between Navy Marines and the Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob). One policeman was killed, while 17 police and military personnel were injured.

"Small conflicts must be settled by field commanders in a peaceful way. There is no need to create unnecessary sparks among security forces," Syarifuddin added.

Among those who attended Tuesday's meeting were Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Firman Gani, Eastern Sea Security Fleet Commander Commodore Sutarto, Naval Base Commander in Maluku and Irian Jaya Commodore Yusuf Solichin, Ambon Naval Base chief Lt. Col. Chaidir Pattorani.

According to Firman Gani a Brimob officer along with several Marine personnel are being questioned by a special team from the military police over the incident.

Syarifuddin further appealed to the public not to exacerbate the situation.

"We're asking people to remain calm and to not make a big fuss about this. The officers from both units must also be calm as all matters will be handled according to procedure," he said.

"Do not judge or take sides among the units. This is actually a small matter but could potentially lead to a bigger conflict," he said.

Syarifuddin also pointed out that part of a rotation of duty of some 600 personnel of Military Battalion 733/Masariku and 200 soldiers from Military Batallion 732/Banau will be deployed to Atambua in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) by the end of the month.

"The remaining troops plus the joint battalion of Navy Marines, Air Force Paskhas and Army Kopassus will remain in Maluku," he said.

The joint battalion -- led by Maj. Ricky Samuel from Kopassus -- "is believed to be an effective crack riot unit which has proved to be professional and impartial in doing their job to quell riots in Maluku," Syarifuddin remarked while adding that these units have above average military skills and are not contaminated by conflict.

"So allegations by certain parties about their involvement in riots are baseless," the officer added. (49/edt)