Renewed violence hits Ambon

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)