Standard army and police weapons used in Ambon: NGO

Standard army and police weapons used in Ambon: NGO

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Ambon

A grassroots reconciliation movement offered on Thursday more
facts that could shed light on the true identity of the snipers
blamed for fueling fresh violence in Ambon, Maluku, which has
so far killed 38 people.

Non-governmental organization, the Peace Building Institute,
said the snipers, who are continuing to sow fear among Ambon
residents, were using Styer SSG-69 rifles, which are widely used
by sniper units of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National
Police sharpshooters.

"The Styer SSG-69, which can hit a target up to one kilometer
away with deadly accuracy, is common in both the military and
police," director of the institute, Ichsan Malik, said in a
discussion with The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

He refrained, however, from actually pointing the fingers at
the TNI or police, saying that further investigation would be
needed to reveal the true identity of the snipers.

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Syafrie Syamsuddin said earlier that
the mystery snipers were using weapons stolen from a police
armory during an infamous raid in Ambon in 2000.

Ichsan, a political scientist with the University of
Indonesia, said the weapons stolen from the warehouse had a range
of up to 200 meters only, while the ones being used by snipers
were accurate up to one kilometer away.

He also said that the snipers were skilled marksmen, as shown
by the fact that victims were shot in the forehead, heart or
between the eyes.

Fellow activist Abubakar Riry said the weapons being used by
the snipers were similar to those used by antisniper units formed
by the former Pattimura Military commander, Brig. Gen. Max
Tamaela, in 2000.
"What happened to these units after a new military commander was
installed to replace Tamaela is still not clear," said Abubakar,
the former leader of a militia group defending a Muslim
neighborhood in Ambon.

Both Ichsan and Abubakar agreed that what sparked the renewed
violence in Ambon was not the rally by the separatist Maluku
Sovereignty Front (FKM) to commemorate the 54th anniversary of
the proclamation of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) but rather
the killing of three persons by the snipers.

"After more than three years of a reconciliation campaign we
call BakuBae we believe that both Muslims and Christians no
longer are willing to get easily involved in conflicts," Ichsan
said, adding that officials in Jakarta were tending to overstate
the scale of the conflict.

Ambon, the site of bloody religious strife that killed over
5,000 people between 1999 and 2001, was plunged into violence
again on April 25. At least 38 people have been killed since
then.

"The renewed conflict in Ambon is not as atrocious as
officials in Jakarta keep saying," Ichsan said.

Maluku police said on Thursday that gunmen firing from a
speedboat shot dead a Christian adult and a baby, and wounded
three others in a dawn attack off Buru Island.

Provincial police spokesman Hendro Prasetyo said an 11-month-
old baby and a 38-year-old Christian man, who was shot six times
in the chest, died in the attack which occurred at about 6 a.m.
Wednesday.

The dead man and baby, and the three wounded people, as well
as another person who is missing, were going about their normal
business in Wamkana village when eight attackers opened fire from
the speedboat, which was passing between 200 meters and 300
meters offshore, Prasetyo said as reported by Agence France-
Presse.

Ambon town was relatively calm on Thursday but for many
traumatized residents it was far from business as usual in many
parts of the city.

The police arrested more suspected separatists on Thursday,
including FKM secretary-general Moses Tuanakotta.

Earlier, the police had already detained FKM chairman
Alexander Manuputty's wife Olly Manuputty and daughter Christin
Manuputty.

Together with the eight other suspects, they were flown to
Jakarta on Thursday to undergo further questioning at National
Police Headquarters.

In Jakarta, police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the police
had requested the handover of Manuputty by the United States to
enable further questioning of the alleged separatist leader.