Team accuses four of stirring up Maluku violence

Team accuses four of stirring up Maluku violence

JAKARTA (JP): A team established to effect reconciliation in
Maluku has submitted a list of the men it suspects fomented the
bloody sectarian strife, a team member said on Monday.

Tamrin Amal Tomagola said the alleged provocateurs were
believed to have links to members of the New Order government.
The team's list has been submitted to the Indonesian Military
(TNI).

"I have told TNI Chief of General Affairs Lt. Gen. Suaidy
Marasabessy that the provocatuers of the sectarian clashes are
Buce Sarpara, Yorrys Raweyai, the Sultan of Ternate and former
Ambon mayor Col. Dicky Wattimena," the sociologist from
Halmahera, North Maluku, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said "the number two person in Maluku" provided him with
information about the men's alleged involvement in the year-long
conflict.

He claimed witnesses told him the four possessed huge funds
which they used to stir up the unrest.

Buce, a former elementary school teacher in Ternate, North
Maluku, is also a former chief of the land agency in Jayapura,
Irian Jaya. Yorrys is the deputy chief of the Pemuda Pancasila
youth organization, which in the past was a loyal supporter of
the ruling Golkar Party.

Tamrin said Dicky and the Sultan of Ternate attempted to
escape the area. "I believe that Dicky is already in Amsterdam
but the Sultan is still in Jakarta," he said.

He regretted the government's lackluster efforts to arrest
suspected provocateurs in the violence.

Tamrin also named former TNI chief Gen. Wiranto, now the
coordinating minister for political affairs and security, as a
key figure "to whom we can trace all connections in the
conflict".

He said the conclusion about Wiranto was reached in his
meeting with People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais
and coordinator of the Commission for Missing People and Victims
of Violence (Kontras) Munir at Amien's residence last week.

Tamrin suspected that former president Soeharto and his
business associates provided funds to the alleged provocateurs.

The bloodshed has left a death toll of 2,000 since it first
erupted in Maluku's capital Ambon in mid-January last year.

Separately, Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said that of the
20 hospitals and community health centers in Maluku, the ministry
was only able to provide doctors and medicine to four main
hospitals.

"Since February 1999, we have sent medicine worth Rp 404
million (US$57,714) and health equipment worth Rp 650 million to
Al Fattah Hospital, Haulussy General Hospital, Ternate General
Hospital and Tual General Hospital," Achmad said.

The medicine was used to treat diarrhea, respiratory diseases,
dermatological conditions and wounds, he said at a departure
ceremony for 50 doctors to Maluku on Tuesday.

The doctors and paramedics are committed to stay in Maluku for
three months. They each will receive a monthly salary of between
Rp 2 million and Rp 3 million.

In Semarang, about 1,000 protesters grouped in the Surakarta
Islamic Youth Front marched to the provincial legislature on
Monday, urging the government to swiftly end the violence in
Maluku.

The group also collected donations from motorists and
passersby along the city's main street, causing traffic
congestion in the area.

"If government fails to stop the killings, we will call for
all Muslims to unite and join a holy war in Maluku," the
protesters shouted. (04/edt/har)