'War' continues in Maluku capital
AMBON, Maluku (JP): Gunfights continued in the Maluku provincial capital of Ambon on Saturday, forcing residents to stay at home for fear of being shot.
"Sounds of gunfire and grenade and bomb explosions have been heard since 7 a.m. It is like a war in the Middle East or something. Thick smoke is billowing out here and there. We cannot see anything farther than 20 meters," a reporter based in Ambon said on Saturday.
He said no one dared to go out, "therefore there is no way for us to find out how many more people have been killed and how many buildings were ravaged or burned down today."
One of Saturday's hot spots was in the Diponegoro area, he said. The area consists of two parts, the upper part called Diponegoro Atas, the Christian area, and the lower part called Diponegoro Bawah, the Muslim area, he said.
"What surprises us is that both areas have been deserted by their residents for days. So the question is, who is shooting at who now?" he said, adding that the recent clamor started four days ago.
"The more questionable thing is the fact that the Pattimura Military Command Headquarters is located between 20 meters and 30 meters south of the battle ground."
Another local, who asked for anonymity, said that a day before the chaos occurred, a band of armed civilians all in black clothes, entered Diponegoro Bawah. "The unidentified people, amounting about 80, stayed at the houses abandoned by the owners. We saw them coming from Waihaong."
On Friday, local police seized a Toyota Kijang van carrying ammunition. Eleven people in the van, and clad in black, were arrested, he said.
He said he believed that the Protestant Sejahtera Church and several residents' houses were burned during Saturday's ruckus.
Latest reports said that gunfights also broke out in the Paradise Tengah area bordering Jl. A.M. Sangaji in downtown Ambon.
The prolonged battle in the city of Ambon has apparently affected the local economy.
"There is a lack of kerosene and rice," a local woman said. "A liter of kerosene usually costs Rp 600, but now we have to cover a three-kilometer distance up the hill to get kerosene at Rp 1,500 per liter," she said.
"A kilogram of rice is now Rp 4,000, or Rp 1,000 more than the old price."
Meanwhile, two men were killed after a motorboat carrying a large number of people was shot at by an unknown group of people near Tanjung Tial, close to Saparua island.
The boat left Haria village for Paso on Saturday, a local said. "The two victims were known to be from the Sahuleka and Manuhutu clans."
Intervention
In a related development, the World Council of Churches (WCC) is appealing to the United Nations top human rights official to immediately visit Indonesia to urge the government to stop the continuing violence in Maluku.
Recent attacks by what the WCC calls intruders "indicate a design to annihilate Christians or force them out of the Malukus", said a letter from the Geneva-based WCC to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.
"To save the Christian community from this ordeal, church leaders in the region have been constrained in calling on their followers to evacuate their homes and move to secure areas," it added.
The WCC said the Indonesian government should be asked to take steps to stop the entry into the Malukus region by intruders, whom it said were backed and supported by the Indonesian Army.
Indonesian officials have repeatedly warned the international community against intervening in domestic affairs.
Jakarta has also imposed a state of civil emergency on the Maluku and North Maluku province.
Last week, religious leaders from Maluku went to Geneva to appeal for help from the UN human rights chief. (49/sur)