Indonesia's vice President Hamzah
Haz has warned the governor of the troubled eastern province of
Maluku that he'll be dumped if he doesn't curb the activities of
the separatist South Maluku Republic. Hamzah Haz, who visited the
provincial capital Ambon this week, says the fragile peace between
Muslims and Christians should not be allowed to become muddied by
separatism.
Presenter/Interviewer:
Kanaha Sabapathy
Speakers: Dr Thamrin Amal Tomagola from the University of
Indonesia; Haji Mohamad Yusef Eli, a Muslim leader from Ambon.
SABAPATHY: Indonesia's vice
president Hamzah Haz met Muslim and Christian leaders on Tuesday
in the riot-hit city of Ambon, to try and find a lasting solution
to three years of sectarian conflict in the Malukus.
A fragile peace pact signed between the two communities in
February this year was shattered when an attack on the Christian
village of Soya on April 28 left 13 people dead and an ancient
church destroyed.
But, according to Dr Thamrin Amal Tomagola, a native of Maluku and
a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, the vice president's
visit should have focussed not so much on bridging the gap between
the two communities but with dealing with the unidentified groups
that are the source of troubles in the Malukus.
TOMAGOLA: That meeting has been carried out by those two
communities themselves for quite some time. So, in my opinion the
problem no longer lies with the local communities but more lies
with unidentified groups. They come mainly from the Kopassus group
and the mobile brigade of the police. And some of them also come
from the strategic unit.
SABAPATHY: Muslims and Christians clashed three times in 1999, and
in May 2000 the militant Laskhar Jihad group sent its people to
support the Muslims. And in the three year sectarian war that
followed some 5,000 lives have been lost.
The Laskhar Jihad, which has been classified as a terrorist
organisation, still retains some 3,000 of its people in the
Malukus. Its leader Jafar Uma Thalib is in detention in Jakarta.
But Mr Hamzah Haz, who met him early last month, says the militant
group is willing to leave Maluku if Muslim security is guaranteed.
HAZ: The local Muslim community says that if the Lakshar Jihad
leaves Ambon then who is going to take care of the security. At
that point I think the national security force should come in and
they shouldn't take any sides.
SABAPATHY: The vice president who oversaw a weapons handover by
Muslim militants, also warned the governor of Maluku to act
decisively against the separatist South Maluku Republic, or RMS.
The mainly Christian RMS had hoisted its flag to mark its
anniversary on April 25, which is said to have provoked the attack
on the village of Soya three days later.
Haji Mohamad Yusef Eli is a Muslim chief in Ambon. He says the
Christians have not reciprocated in kind by turning over their
weapons and continue to receive financial and weapons assistance
from their brethrens living in the Netherlands.
ELI: They propogate, the Christian Maluku, to separate this
province from the unity of the Republic of Indonesia.
SABAPATHY: Dr Tomagola, however, does not see the RMS posing a
great problem to the security of the Malukus. Rather he sees it as
a tactic to justify any military action by the central government.
TOMOGOLA: They have support from some locals, not more than 300
people there. And that support comes only because they have
friendship relations with some figures of that separatist
movement. In addition to that, the separatist movement does not
pose any threat to security there. So it's an issue blown up by
the security force in order to take control of the situation
there. If people talk about international support from Holland, I
think that support is only limited to support in the form of
financial support.
SABAPATHY: Nonetheless, Mr Hamzah Haz has vowed to dump the
governor if he fails to curb the activites of the RMS, a
responsibility which Dr Tomagola says should be that of the
security forces.
TOMOGOLA: The problem is not with the governor. It would be quite
wrong for the vice president to sack the governor there. The main
culprit is the regional commander who's already been replaced by
the new one, because the military regional commander didn't want
to take any orders from the governor there, then the problem
arose. So I think the security force should be dealt with first,
and then the governor.
12/6/2002
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