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Layanan Informasi Aktual
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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CRISIS CENTRE DIOCESE OF AMBOINA
Jalan Pattimura 32 - Ambon 97124 - Indonesia
Tel 0062 (0)911 342195 Fax 0062 (0)911 355337 E-mail
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Ambon, October 20, 2002
THE SITUATION IN AMBON / MOLUCCAS - Report No. 321
Your correspondent was out of office and out of reach of internet for more
than a month. In the following rather lengthy report we will try to catch up
with events, mainly based on the Archives of Infomaluku.net.
1. AMAHUSU INHABITANTS SHOT AT - On September 21, 2002, a group of
residents of Amahusu, a Christian village South-West of the city of Ambon,
went hunting on the tiny island of Kelang to the West of Ceram island. When
returning they were unexpectedly shot at by unknown assailants, who
reportedly used automatic weapons. In this incident two people were killed,
two others were wounded, and two were missing.
2. ARRESTS ON MOROTAI - Four suspects of the recent attack on three
villages on the island of Morotai, North Moluccas (see Report 320) have been
arrested. They will be tried in court. Several thousands of victims of the
attack, that initially went hiding in the forest, have returned to their
villages because shortage of food was imminent.
3. SUSPECTS OF BURNING GOVERNOR'S OFFICE SENTENCED - The district
court of Ambon has sentenced three suspects of the burning of the
gubernatorial office in Ambon on April 3, 2002 (see Report 254), to
sentences of 18 to 22 months. The judge deemed that they were guilty of
inciting the mob that burned the office. The Team of Muslim Lawyers (TPM)
accuses Ambon police of taking no serious actions in this whole matter,
because those arrested were not directly involved in torching the building.
4. KULUR RESIDENT VICTIM OF LAND MINE - On October 5 a woman from
Kulur village on the island of Saparua became victim of an explosion,
probably from a landmine.
5. RETURNING OF IDP-s TO THEIR HOMESTEADS - On October 5 the
government assisted in moving 1,185 people (275 families) from Ternate,
North Moluccas, to Luari, Tobelo sub-district. It is reported that since
March this year more than 4,514 IDP families in the North Moluccas have
returned to their original villages.
6. BOMB EXPLOSION IN AMBON - Two soldiers of Yonif 741/Udhayana and
two civilians were wounded in the morning of October 9 when a bomb exploded
at a marked stand in the Christian neighbourhood of Batugantung. The
incident took place when the military secured the area where the unexploded
bomb was found and a special police team was expected to decompose the
lethal device. The number of casualties was increased by two wounded, who at
the time the bomb exploded, were driving a car, then pulled out and crashed.
Not long after this, another bomb was found in a telecom shop ("Wartel") on
the Yan Paays street in Ambon town. Yet another unexploded bomb was found
near the secondary SMU-1 school in the Batumeja area in Ambon town. Two
bombs were found near the Transmigration Office in the Muslim Pohon Mangga
area at the West end of Ambon town. On October 11 two grenades were found at
the Baku Bae market in the Pantai Mardika area, Ambon town. A spokesman of
the Armed-1 battalion acknowledged that the grenades had been lost during a
routine patrol, but had not intentionally been placed there.
7. BLOODY FEUD BETWEEN KAILOLO AND PELAUW - During a clash between the
Muslim villages of Kailolo and Pelauw on the island of Haruku on September
18, two people were killed. Once again they took to war on October 11. A
Kailolo resident was seriously wounded by a bullet.
8. TELKOMSEL RESUMES SERVICE IN AMBON - On June 23, 2000, the
Telecommunication Office at Tanah Lapang Kecil, Ambon, was partly destroyed
(see Report 1). Since then no mobile telephone service could be provided.
Now Telkomsel, the provider of mobile telephone services, has resumed its
service, so that mobile telephones can be used again in Ambon.
9. SOLDIER KILLED - On Sunday, October 13, a soldier of the Armed-16
unit was killed during a patrol near kampung Keranjang, Baguala subdistrict,
Ambon. It reportedly was an accident, in which he was shot by another
soldier.
10. KILLED BY MYSTERIOUS GUNMAN - On October 13 Abdulhair Olle (20) from
Sirisori Salam, island of Saparua, was killed by gunshots when at some
distance from his village, he was gathering firewood.
11. WORKSHOP FIREARMS ROLLED UP IN TERNATE - Recently the police rolled up
a workshop for fabricating firearms on the site of a school for theology in
Sentiong, Ternate, North Moluccas. A number of firearms was confiscated.
Four persons were arrested.
12. HUNDREDS OF LASKAR JIHAD LEAVE AMBON - On October 15, 2002, between
800 to 1000 members of the Laskar Jihad boarded the Dorondola passenger ship
and left Ambon. Provincial police chief commander Sunarko was in the harbour
to oversee their departure. Sunarko stated that the departure was voluntary
and that the authorities were not directly involved neither had made any
financial contribution to pay for their departure. It seems that several
hundreds of them still are in Ambon; however, they will leave within a few
weeks. Their social and religious activities will be continued. It is
reported that equally on October 16, 200 Laskar Jihad members left Poso
(Central Sulawesi), which is another conflict area.
Several reasons of their departure are proffered: (1) A spokesman of the
Laskar Jihad in Ambon said that their departure is a result of the decision
by the Laskar Jihad leadership, the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah, to disband the
organization. In fact their headquarters in Yogyakarta were closed down on
October 15. A speech by Laskar Jihad commander Jafar Umar Thalib, announcing
the dissolvement of his organization, was aired on local Muslim SPMM radio
on October 15. The lawyer of the Laskar Jihad, Mahendradatta, denied that
there was any connection between this measure and the bloody bomb attack in
Bali on October 12. He said that the decision had already been taken earlier
in October because the government apparently now takes the problem of
separatism seriously and both the army and the police are protecting the
interest of the muslim community in a better way. (2) Other sources say that
their departure was ordered by a fatwa (decision) by Syehk Rubi bin Hadi Al
Wadli from Saudi Arabia, stating that the Jihad in the Moluccas was over
now. (3) The presence of the Laskar Jihad in the Moluccas is regarded as not
longer necessary as their social and religious tasks can be continued by
locals. (4) On October 16 Jafar Umar Thalib Jafar Umar Thalib stated in
Jakarta that his organization was disbanded based on ideological
considerations. He said that the organization mingled with several
politicians, among them Vice President Hamzah Haz, contaminating the Laskar
Jihad ideology. These non-serious politics disturbed the principal mission
of the Laskar Jihad. (5) A Laskar Jihad member in Ambon reportedly declared
that the organization was disolved due to lack of sufficient financial
support.
Head of national police, general Da'i Bachtiar, considers the dissolvement
of the Laskar Jihad as a favourable act, because now tensions and threats
will decrease.
13. LASKAR JIHAD WEBSITE CLOSED - The Laskar Jihad website on the internet
(www.laskarjihad.or.id) is closed since October 12. The website was in fact
hosted by a company based in the USA (Dynamic DNS Network Services LLC,
Worcester).
14. BOMB ATTACK IN BATUMERAH - In the afternoon of October 14, a bomb was
thrown out of a fast speeding passenger car when passing through the Muslim
Batumerah area, Ambon town. A four year old boy was hit and lost one of his
hands. Meanwhile a woman fell (or was pushed?) out of the car, upon which
she was beaten up by an angry mass of people.
15. BOMBS FOUND NEAR VICE-GOVERNOR'S RESIDENCE - In the evening of October
17 a bomb was discovered at the provisional market of the Christian
neighbourhood of Batumeja, Ambon town. The following morning another one was
found at a distance of four meters from the earlier location. The exact
location had a distance of about 25 meters from the residence of
vice-governor Mrs. Paula Renyaan and about 100 meters from Police
Headquarters.
16. UMAR AL-FAROUQ INVOLVED IN MOLUCCAS UNREST - Umar Al-Farouq is said to
have admitted that he is connected to the Al-Qaeda network and that he was
involved in several terrorist actions, including bomb assaults in Ambon.
Al-Farouq is probably a Kuwait national, who holds identification documents
from Ambon. A special combined police-intelligence investigation team
confirmed that Al-Farouq and Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, muslim clerc and leader of
the muslim organization Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia, know each other. The
latter, however, denies this link.
17. SITUATION IN AMBON IN THE WAKE OF LASKAR JIHAD DEPARTURE - Leader of
the Moluccan Protestant Church (GPM), minister I.W.J. Hendriks, stated on
October 18 that the government has to make use of the momentum now that the
Laskar Jihad is dissolved, to restore security. He said the current
situation in Ambon was peaceful now, because Christians now understand that
not every muslim is a member of the Laskar Jihad, and Muslims are aware that
not every christian is a supporter of the RMS.
>From some muslims we learn that there is some worry or feeling of
bereavement among local Jihads now that their Javanese comrades have left.
Among the common people in Ambon no special utterings of either euphoria or
sadness can be perceived.
People still live in fear of possible bomb explosions. Numerous bomb threats
are received by telephone at schools and other public facilities, thus not
seldom disrupting ordinar daily business. Every unattended black plastic bag
or wrapped up cardboard box is suspected and reported to the nearest
security forces.
Besides, Christians do not yet risk to pass through the Muslim areas of
Batumerah and Galunggung, city of Ambon. Likewise Muslims do not endeavour
to pass through Christian areas.
C.J.B�hm msc, Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina
