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.