Riot-torn Ambon suffers front sporadic clashes

JAKARTA (JP): Sporadic clashes continued in the destroyed Maluku capital of Ambon on Saturday and at least five more people were injured.

First Sgt. Abdurrahman, a staffer at the police Bhayangkara Hospital, told The Jakarta Post by phone that at least five people injured from the clashes were admitted to hospital.

"Four are Christians and one is Muslim. They have bruises and stab wounds, and two are still being treated here," Abdurrahman said.

Wawan, a member of staff at the downtown Al Fattah Mosque, told the Post that Muslim houses in Ahuru village were set on fire by Christians early Saturday.

"Reports have just come indicating that security personnel fired warning shots to disperse crowds in the area," Wawan said.

He said that angry mobs were also burning houses on the boundary of the villages of Ahuru and Waihoka on Saturday.

"Warning shots have also been fired as people there refused to lay down their weapons," Wawan said.

He also said there were reports of attacks on the state-run Islamic Studies Institute in the Air Besar area of the city.

At least 16 have been killed in renewed clashes with religious overtones which broke out Tuesday in the downtown Batu Merah village.

Witnesses said the city was still tense on Saturday as shops and schools remained closed and public transportation was still not running.

"The city is calm but we have heard reports that clashes are still taking place outside Ambon," a priest, Liang, told the Post from the downtown Silo Church.

Witnesses said that a few shops had resumed business in the morning with doors slightly ajar but ready to close at the first sign of any trouble.

"The residents are still edgy as there are rumors on both sides that there will be attacks," Liang said.

Thousands have taken refuge in churches, mosques and military installations since the violence broke out on Tuesday while thousands of others have fled the city on ships for their hometowns in Southeast Sulawesi and South Sulawesi.

"The Al Fattah Mosque is not able to shelter anymore people, so we have had to take hundreds of new refugees to the An Nur Mosque and the naval base in Halong," Wawan said.

Meanwhile, Sidney Jones, Asia Director of the New York-based Human Rights Watch had said in a statement on Thursday that it was "particularly important... for the international and national media to reflect information from both Muslim and Christian sources."

Both sides have charged the security personnel with being discriminatory in quelling the riots.

Jones said that international pressure is also important to help ensure non-lethal forms of crowd control.

Authorities have said more than 150 people had been killed and more than 350 others were injured since the clashes erupted in the province in mid-January.

Official figures say 3,360 houses have been set on fire in the weeks of violence causing about Rp 500 billion in material losses.

The violence was initially sparked by a dispute between a Muslim migrant and a local Christian driver of a public minibus on Jan. 19, the first day of the Muslim Idul Fitri holiday.

Shortly afterwards members of both communities were involved in full-scale riots.

Meanwhile Antara reported on Saturday that a journalist from the Medan-based Panji Demokrasi weekly was shot dead by a group of unidentified people in North Aceh on Friday.

The agency said that Mukmin Fanani, 37, was killed by a group of men riding a motorcycle in Rayeuk Kareueng village in Blang Mangat district in North Aceh. Witnesses said Mukmin was shot in the head and chest by one of the men.

North Aceh Police chief, Lt. Col. Iskandar Hasan, was quoted as saying that the case is still being investigated.

At least 21 people have been killed in the latest military operations to quell the separatist movement in Aceh since last December.

From Sambas, Central Kalimantan, Kompas daily reported on Saturday that communal clashes between Malays and Madurese which erupted on Tuesday have spread to four districts in the area.

The daily also reported that three of seven Madurese road construction workers who went missing in the area earlier this week were killed by their rivals.

At least 10 have been killed and 62 homes and a number of cars and motorcycles were also set on fire in the clashes, the daily said. As of Saturday the Pemangkat district was still tense as two homes had been set on fire by crowds, Sambas police said.

Local authorities had said the riots were sparked by a dispute over a public transport fare in which one man sustained a serious stab wound. (byg/aan)