Easter Morning

Report/News

 

 Last Update:  June, 11 2002

Amnesty Reports

ICJ Reports

HRW Reports

Jubilee C. Reports

OCHA Reports

Malino Agreement

Opinions

Maps

Photos

 
 

 

 

 

 HTML pages design and maintained by jembong_710 Send your comments to Lawamena Victoria

 

Indonesian Vice Pres Visits Hardline Muslims in Maluku

The Associated Press
Tuesday June 11, 2002

JAKARTA, June 11(AP)--Indonesia's vice president Tuesday toured a school and medical clinic run by a controversial Islamic paramilitary group in religiously divided Maluku province.

During the same trip, however, Hamzah Haz also visited a village where 12 Christians were killed.

Hamzah Haz arrived with an entourage of 80 people at Ambon's airport and drove to Soya, which has come to symbolize the tenuous peace between Muslims and Christians after Christians were killed there in April by unidentified assailants wearing black masks.

He then met with Christian and Muslim leaders before touring a school and medical clinic run by the Muslim militant group Laskar Jihad. The leader of Laskar Jihad has been arrested for allegedly inciting violence in Maluku and his fighters have been accused of fueling religious strife in Maluku and Central Sulawesi.

Meeting with reporters Monday, Haz described his one-day visit as a peace mission.

"We are going to meet the figures both from Muslim and Church leaders so this conflict can be resolved," he said. "I also want to meet with some Maluku ministers to help them attract and restore economic activity in Maluku."

But the meeting with Laskar Jihad - the latest by Haz to show support for Muslim hard-liners - has called into question Indonesia's willingness to crack down on militants. Analysts said it's an effort by Haz to shore up support among hardline Islamic groups ahead of the 2004 election.

Haz - who has visited Laskar leader Jafar Umar Thalib in jail and met with hardline Muslim preacher Abu Bakar Bashir - said he is only demonstrating Muslim solidarity.

Singapore and Malaysia have arrested dozens of suspected al-Qaida linked terrorists, several of them Indonesian citizens, accused of plotting attacks against Western interests in Southeast Asia.

Singapore has accused Bashir of leading the alleged al-Qaida linked ring.

Indonesia, however, has been slow to arrest suspects, saying it needs more proof.

Maluku province, also known as the Moluccan Islands or the Spice Islands during Dutch colonial rule, has been wracked by three years of conflict between Muslims and Christians that has left more than 9,000 dead. It is located about 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) northeast of Jakarta.

The warring groups signed a peace deal in February, but the truce has been violated several times.

 

 

Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
 

Home | Situation in Ambon | CCDA Reports | Amnesty Reports | ICJ Reports
HRW Reports | Jubilee C. Reports | OCHA Reports | Malino Agreement | Opinion | Maps | Photos

 


| Top of page | Home |

Copyright © 2000 – Lawamena Victoria On-Line
HTML pages design and maintained by jembong_710
Send your comments to lawamena_victoria

 

Ambon Berdarah
PosKo Zwolle-Maluku
HAIN
Hotburrito
Maluku.Pagina.nl

 
     
 

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1