Some 800 missing on Buru Island

JAKARTA (JP): Amid reports of continuing conflict in Maluku, at least 800 villagers from Wayula and Batlale in North Buru subdistrict are missing in forests on Buru Island after escaping an attack from a rival group from Dec. 22 to 23.

Maluku deputy governor Paula Renyaan said on Tuesday she had recently received a report from Buru Regent Dudy Sangadji on the uncertain fate of the two villages' residents.

"The search (by security personnel) for the missing people is still ongoing," she told Antara in Maluku's capital Ambon.

She said she had asked Maluku Military Command chief Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela to use a military helicopter to search for the missing people.

Buru Island was formerly home to political prisoners sentenced for their involvement in the 1965 abortive coup attempt blamed on the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party.

A search was also underway for residents of Tehoru village on Seram Island, who were still missing after fleeing the recent violence on the island, Paula, also chairwoman of the coordinating board for humanitarian aid in Maluku, said.

She said she had asked the military subdistrict in Masohi in Central Maluku regency to carry out the search.

"We have instructed Central Maluku Regent Rudolf Rukka not to evacuate refugees in the regency to Ambon because of inadequate space to accommodate them," she said.

Paula said around 2,750 villagers who also escaped the two-day violence on Buru Island had been accommodated in the province's naval base, churches and mosques.

She added the provincial administration had supplied 15 tons of rice and medicine in humanitarian aid to refugees across Maluku.

A semblance of calm enveloped Ambon on Tuesday as roadblocks were removed and business activities resumed. Security personnel in armored vehicles were seen patrolling the city to anticipate any disturbance.

Ambon and its adjacent islands have witnessed intermittent Muslim-Christian violence since Jan. 19 last year, which has left more than 1,000 dead, over 2,300 injured and more than 8,500 buildings, including more than 122 places of worship, either damaged or burned.

But there have been conflicting numbers of fatalities in the year-long turbulence.

Meanwhile, some 300 Muslim students in Ambon rallied in the provincial capital to protest the government's plan to replace Governor Saleh Latuconsina.

The protesters, who claimed to represent three local Muslim organizations, gathered in front of the Al-Fatah Mosque and tried to march to a Christian area near the burned-down Silo church, some 300 meters apart, before being stopped by security personnel.

They accused the central government of doing little to help solve the dispute in the restive province.

The group waved a white banner which read "Sister Mega, teardrops alone won't solve Ambon conflicts", referring to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who has been assigned by President Abdurrahman Wahid to cope with the bloodshed.

Abdurrahman said on Sunday he would replace Maluku military commander Brig. General Max Tamaela and Latuconsina, a Muslim of Ambon descent, "due to the fact that they are no longer wanted by the (Ambonese) people."

In another development, visiting Indonesian Military Commander Adm. Widodo A.S. said the presence of 15 battalions of troops in Maluku was expected to ease the sectarian violence in Maluku and North Maluku.

"The deployment of massive security personnel, warships and cargo planes to the two provinces is expected to stop the bloodshed in a short time," he said in Ternate.

He renewed his order for security personnel on duty to be neutral in the face of the conflicting groups and to strictly enforce the law.

However, North Muluku military chief Lt. Col. Slamet Riyadi said he needed more reinforcement of the existing 2,000 troops to prevent the violence from escalating in the new province.

He said the situation in North Maluku remained tense.

At least eight people were killed and dozens of others were injured in violence in Jailolo subdistrict on Monday, he said.

A number of handmade bombs in Tobelo and Galela also exploded on Tuesday but no fatalities were reported.

The National Social Welfare Agency (BKSN) has supplied food and medicine in humanitarian relief for refugees in North Maluku.

Jose Rizal, coordinator of the medical team for North Maluku, said hundreds of deceased bodies remained sprawled about unburied in the province.

He said he had asked security personnel to help bury the corpses to avoid an outbreak of epidemic diseases. (48/edt/rms)