Two bombs explode at church in Ambon

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post/Ambon

Peace in the Maluku capital of Ambon, once plagued by three years of sectarian fighting, was put to the test again when two homemade bombs exploded in the eastern city on Thursday.

No one was hurt in the blast and no damage was reported.

Two blasts were heard at about 11:30 a.m. some 25 meters behind the Silo church in Sirimau district, Ambon. The church is being renovated after having been set ablaze during the 1999-2002 riots.

The explosions caused panic among local residents and at the nearby Pattimura University, with lecturers and students seen fleeing the campus.

A 30-year-old fruit trader, Endang, who runs a stall about 20 meters from the blast site, said the two bombs went off in quick succession.

"The explosions were big. Fortunately, there were no people in the area at the time of explosions," she said.

The adjacent Jl. Dr. Latumeten street quickly became jammed as the blast attracted motorists and a crowd of pedestrians.

Police later cordoned off the scene in anticipation of possible further blasts.

Bomb squad officers from the Maluku Police arrived and combed the blast site, where they discovered pieces of metal pipe.

"The exploded bombs were low-power explosives," Maluku Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Endro Prasetyo told The Jakarta Post.

He said the police were searching for the bombers.

Some 30 minutes prior to the incident, local police had arrested a suspected drug dealer who had long been included on their list of wanted people in Maluku, along with a quantity of crystal amphetamine (shabu-shabu).

The arrest of the suspect, identified only as Jamal, was made in the area of Jl. Baru adjacent to the bomb site.

Ambon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Leonidas Braksan said his office was investigating whether the blasts were connected with the arrest of Jamal.

"The suspect is allegedly a drug-dealer in Ambon. We are probing his possible role in the incident," Leonidas said.

He said security in Ambon remained under control with local people resuming their daily activities.

The bomb site is an area bordering two communities of Muslims and Christians, which clashed for three years until they signed a peace pact in February 2002. Thousands of people were killed in the riots.

Last April, some 40 people were killed and hundreds of homes and other buildings torched in violence that broke out after a procession by supporters of the mainly Christian separatist Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM).

On Wednesday, prosecutors asked the Ambon District Court to sentence four people, one of them an alleged FKM member, to between 24 months and 30 month's jail for treason.

The four suspects were allegedly among the dozens of FKM members and sympathizers who took part in the peaceful April procession that triggered the violence, the worst since the February 2002 peace accord.

The prosecutors said that by taking part in the ceremony, the defendants caused chaos and threatened the unity of Indonesia.

Other alleged FKM members and sympathizers suspected of participating in the event are being questioned.