Three injured in Central Maluku clashes

Three injured in Central Maluku clashes

JAKARTA (JP): Communal clashes in Central Maluku on Monday
left three injured and at least 12 houses set ablaze, Antara
reported from Ambon.

The unrest occurred from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Salahutu
district as a crowd from Tengah-Tengah village attacked Suli.

The injured were identified as Lukas Suitella, Alex
Leiwakabessy and Maris Alputilla.

Suli residents accused security personnel of bias.

"In the beginning there were no houses burned. But security
personnel fired on the crowds from Suli so it was easier for
attackers to set homes on fire," a resident told the news agency.

He questioned the shoot-on-sight order for attackers, issued
by Trikora Regional Commander Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela and the
Maluku Police chief Col. Bugis Saman.

Security personnel finally stopped the riot but residents
feared their attackers would return.

The news agency also reported that mobs vandalized a high
school and a senior high school in Laha village, Baguala
district, near Pattimura Airport.

They also looted the schools.

Local residents charged that security personnel did not
attempt to halt the violence.

Bugis Saman could not be reached for confirmation, the agency
said.

Throughout the province people remained tense as rumors of
further unrest were passed among a population increasingly
distrustful of local authorities.

A Jakarta-based activist from the Maluku Islam Front (FIM),
Faizal Assegaf, told The Jakarta Post that the group demanded the
replacement of Maluku Police chief Col. Bugis Saman and Military
Commander Brig. Gen. Max Tamaella.

"We need security leaders from outside the province, either
from Ujungpandang or Java," Faizal, the group's coordinator,
said. The group was established about a month after violence
between Christians and Muslims first erupted in the province in
January.

Both Christians and Muslims in Maluku have accused security
personnel of being biased against them.

Security personnel are continuing to confiscate arms from
civilians in an attempt to prevent further violence.

Fifty men disembarking from a vessel were found on Saturday
"to be carrying homemade fire arms and 10 had slingshots", Capt.
AG Sugiono said at the port where the KKM Siguntang was docked.
(anr/06)