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)