Violence clashes continue in Tual and Singkawang

Violence clashes continue in Tual and Singkawang

JAKARTA (JP): More violence shook the Maluku town of Tual and
the West Kalimantan town of Singkawang, claiming at least five
lives on Tuesday.

The latest fatalities bring the death toll in Maluku in the
last few days to over 55.

Warring groups in Tual, some 540 kilometers southeast of the
Maluku capital of Ambon, continued their clashes despite the
presence of the chief of the Trikora military command overseeing
Irian Jaya and Maluku, Maj. Gen. Amir Sembiring.

Amir visited the volatile Kai islands to call on the warring
groups to show restraint and put an end to almost a week of
bloody clashes. He was accompanied by Maluku Military Commander
Col. Karel Ralahalu and Southeast Maluku military chief Lt. Col.
Ery Susanto.

Aka Roroa, a member of the riot monitoring post at Al Huria
Mosque in Tual, told The Jakarta Post that Amir reiterated the
military's shoot-on-sight order, banned people from assembling in
large groups and urged warring groups to lay their weapons down.

No curfew was established for the town, according to Roroa,
but Tual resembled a ghost town as night fell.

Roroa said four people died of gunshot wounds after police
opened fire on a group of Muslim youths attempting to attack a
Christian neighborhood. Another 17 people were injured.

The four youths were buried in Al Huria's compound.

Meanwhile, Antara reported that Paulus Wadaubun died on Monday
evening of stab wounds to his stomach suffered during a clash on
Thursday last week. Paulus was being treated at Hati Kudus
Langgur Hospital.

Clashes between Muslims and Christians erupted in Tual
following the discovery of graffiti defaming Islam in Wearhir on
March 28. The violence broke out just as Maluku was beginning to
recover from sectarian clashes which killed nearly 200 people in
Ambon.

There were no signs of business or social activities in Tual
as of Tuesday, according to Roroa.

He said the number of refugees taking shelter in Navy,
military and police buildings, and schools surpassed 10,000.

Meanwhile, Antara reported that Tual's general hospital has
begun to run out of supplies.

The head of the Army medical team posted at the hospital, Lt.
Col. Michael K, said the hospital badly needed fresh supplies of
penicillin, Betadine, infusion liquid and antibiotics to treat
those wounded in the clashes.

He said the hospital only had six general practitioners and
specialists. The Army headquarters soon will send 33 more
doctors, including four specialists, from the University of
Indonesia.

In Ambon, Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina asked Armed Forces
Commander Gen. Wiranto to allow a special military task force to
extend its stay in the province until the situation returns to
normal.

The 19-strong team of officers hailing from Maluku, headed by
the chief of the Wirabuana military command overseeing Sulawesi,
Maj. Gen. Suaidi Marasabessy, is scheduled to end its mission in
the province on April 7.

Meanwhile, in West Kalimantan's Sambas regency, renewed ethnic
violence pitting Malays and Dayaks against Madurese resumed in
the early hours of Monday, after over a week of calm.

No casualties were reported in the violence which erupted in
the village of We Sungai Bulan, Singkawang mayoralty, Tujuhbelas
district.

West Kalimantan Police chief Col. Chaerul Rasyidi told Antara
Monday night the police had detained 56 people suspected of being
involved in the clash.

The violence reportedly involved hundreds of villagers from
the districts of Selakau, Tebas and Pemangkat who attacked
Madurese taking refuge in Singkawang.

According to Chaerul, the attackers apparently were attempting
to expel the Madurese from the regency, which saw more than 200
people killed during the recent unrest.

Over a dozen houses were burned during the attack, which
according to the news agency caused the tension to rise in the
predominantly Chinese-Indonesian town of Singkawang.

"Just try playing tough guy with me. If you do, you'll face
the security apparatus," Chaerul was quoted as saying by Antara.

The attackers allegedly were local Malays and Dayaks, who long
have harbored a resentment toward Madurese.

Sociologists and Dayak and Malay elders have recommended the
local government relocate the Madurese from the regency.

Meanwhile, in the provincial capital of Pontianak, Deputy
Governor Syarifuddin Lubis said about 40 tons of rice for
Madurese refugees in Pontianak and Sambas had been received from
East Java Governor Imam Utomo and four regents from Madura.

Syarifuddin said the number of refugees in Pontianak was
around 25,000, while in Sambas there were more than 8,500
refugees. (aan/amd)