Religious leaders visit Maluku on peace mission

Religious leaders visit Maluku on peace mission

The Jakarta Post, Makassar/Cirebon

A group of 11 national religious leaders arrived in Ambon on
Monday afternoon for a peace mission aimed at boosting an accord
to end the three-year sectarian conflict in the Maluku islands.

The two-day visit comes 12 days after a powerful bomb rocked
the eastern city on April 3, killing at least seven people and
injuring more than 50 others.

The blast threatened the peace pact signed by Muslim and
Christian leaders on Feb. 12 to end the conflict in the Malukus.

The mission, which earlier had been postponed because local
officials were not prepared to receive the participants, is seen
as crucial in strengthening efforts to promote the peace accord.

The members of the mission will meet with local Muslim and
Christian leaders on Tuesday.

The delegates include KH Hasyim Muzadi, the chairman of the
nation's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, the
secretary-general of the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization,
Goodwil Zubir, and noted Muslim intellectual Solahuddin Wahid.

Bishops Council of Indonesia chairman Rev. Ismartono,
Indonesian Communion of Churches leader A. A. Yemangoe and
Ministry of Religious Affairs secretary general Faisal Ismail are
also part of the peace mission.

The visiting religious leaders are accompanied by Syahrul
Ujud, a deputy to Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare Jusuf
Kalla, who brokered the Maluku peace talks.

Muzadi said the national delegation would help disseminate the
details of the peace agreement reached in the Malino hill resort
in South Sulawesi.

During the visit, he said, the religious leaders would "hear
the conscience of the Maluku people, share opinions with them and
draw up formulations to achieve peace" in the war-torn islands.

"The conflict in Maluku is a national tragedy. Therefore, all
Indonesians should support the efforts to promote peace," Muzadi
told journalists during a stopover in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

"We hope our arrival in Ambon will add weight to the peace
efforts. If this is still not effective, we will do it again," he
added.

Despite national and international backing of the peace deal,
it has yet to win full acceptance in Maluku, with some Muslim and
Christian militias, as well as a local separatist group, opposed
to the accord.

Bishops Council of Indonesia chairman Rev. Ismartono said the
most important step in restoring peace in Maluku was stringently
enforcing the law against those breaking the peace deal.

"The legal process must proceed unequivocally. So if any party
is found violating the peace agreement, they must face the law,"
he said.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Yemangoe, who said law
enforcement was the most crucial factor in maintaining peace and
security in Maluku.

He said stern action must be taken against any agitators,
particularly those behind the recent bombing in Ambon, who are
still at large.

"The law must be upheld in all circumstances if the state is
to maintain its authority," Yemangoe asserted.

Syahrul Ujud said the 11-member peace mission would assist the
Maluku authorities and people in "socializing the Malino
agreement" to end the conflict in the islands, which has left
some 6,000 people dead and forced a half million others to flee
their homes since erupting on Jan. 19, 1999.

Meanwhile, a battalion of at least 682 soldiers from West
Java's Siliwangi Military Command departed from the Cirebon Port
for Ambon on Monday. They are being deployed to help secure the
Malino peace pact.