Tension again grips Ambon after group protests recent peace deal

Oktovianus Pinontoan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tension engulfed the Maluku capital of Ambon again on Tuesday after the security forces fired warning shots to halt stone- throwing during a protest by a group of Muslims opposed to the recent peace accord.

It was the latest sign that despite significant support from the public, the peace pact that many hoped would end three years of vicious religious conflict in the country's eastern province is facing a rocky road to complete acceptance.

Earlier on Saturday, at least five people were injured and four motorcycles set ablaze in violence that was apparently aimed at challenging the quest for peace.

No casualties were reported after the minor violence on Tuesday, but the fighting and warning shots caused panic among local residents who fled the scene of the incident.

Hundreds of Muslims, mostly women, marched to the Maluku governor's office in protest against last month's peace agreement, which was designed to end three years of religious fighting.

They also protested the government's plan to outlaw a local radio station operated by the notorious Laskar Jihad militant group for allegedly provoking violence aimed at disrupting the peace pact.

Tuesday's violence started at 11:30 a.m. when stones were hurled from an unknown location at the protesters who then began to flee the governor's office, where a group of Christians had gathered to watch the demonstration.

The clash then worsened with the protesters and the Christians throwing stones at each other. Each of the two groups claimed their rivals were the first to spark off the attack.

Police later intervened in the clash and fired warning shots in the air after the stone-throwing began to endanger the Ambon mayor's office located on Jl. Hairun and the number of violent demonstrators had begun to swell.

The violence forced panicked civil servants from the city administration to flee their offices and return home.

During the Muslim rally, the protesters urged the civil emergency authority not to ban the Voice of Maluku Muslim Struggle (SPMM) radio station based in Ambon.

They demanded a meeting with Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina, who was not available as he had been in Jakarta since Monday.

Saleh, who also serves as the chief of the civil emergency authority, has threatened to revoke the licenses of the Laskar Jihad radio station and other media that he accused of having incited renewed fighting in Ambon and the rest of the Maluku islands following the peace accord.

The protesters were received by Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Sunarko who calmed them down and promised to put their grievances to the governor, the military and the provincial prosecutor's office.

Executives of the radio station have been summoned and told to be wary about what they broadcast, local officials said.

However, they said the governor had not ordered the closure of the station but that the local government was monitoring its broadcasts.

One banner carried by the demonstrators read: "We reject the closure of SPMM radio". Another banner read: "Hang the Muslim Malino delegates".

Malino, a hill resort in Gowa regency in South Sulawesi, was the venue of the government-brokered peace talks that ended on Feb. 12 with the signing of the peace accord to end the sectarian conflict in Maluku.

The Muslim and Christian delegates were each represented by 35 delegates.

Members from both once-warring communities have taken part in several emotional peace rallies and convoys across Ambon in recent days. They hugged, laughed, talked with each other and shook hands.

Some 6,000 people have been killed and a half-a-million made homeless in the Muslim-Christian clashes in Ambon that began on Jan 19, 1999, after a minor quarrel that quickly spread to other islands in Maluku and North Maluku.