Renewed violence hits Ambon

AMBON, Maluku (JP): Renewed sectarian violence erupted here on Friday after unidentified people burned a house belonging to a Christian family in the Wailela subdistrict.

Eyewitnesses said a group of people wearing white headbands entered Wailela, some three kilometers northeast of Ambon, by speedboat.

The unidentified group then proceeded to burn the house belonging to the Lewerissa family, the witnesses said. Pattimura University's polytechnic workshop also was damaged in the incident. No fatalities were reported.

The fire incited the anger of local residents, who feared their houses would be targeted next, a resident said.

"Fortunately, security officers managed to disperse the warring groups," Lt. Col. Komaruddin Simanjuntak, the commander of the Army Strategic Reserves Command battalion posted here, said. Police also helped disperse the mob.

"The troops sent to end the clash were ordered to act sternly and impartially. They will take stiff measures against those who cause trouble," Komaruddin said.

Ambon and a number of other parts of the Maluku islands have been rocked since January this year by sectarian clashes which have left more than 500 people dead.

Government efforts to end the violence have failed, causing some to speculate that the military has played a role in the continuing clashes.

Community figures, government officials, military and religious leaders and scholars have arranged numerous meetings to broker an end to the violence.

However, the clashes have spread to the newly formed North Maluku province. Several people there have been killed and hundreds of families have fled their homes.

Residents of Ambon are still awaiting the arrival of relatives who fled Ternate, the capital of North Maluku. "They are expected to arrive tonight," one resident who asked not to be identified said. (48/sur)