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AMBON, Indonesia -- Indonesian
militant Muslim group Laskar Lihad handed over hundreds of weapons
ranging from rifles to homemade bombs to the military in the
strife-torn Moluccas on Sunday.
But the group said those were only
a small part of its supplies and before giving up additional arms
it would like to see authorities take more action against a
radical Christian faction in the area a
"We may hand over all the
weapons we have if the TNI (military) and the police show their
seriousness in guaranteeing the security of people in the
Moluccas, especially the Muslims," Laskar Jihad loca
Attamimi said in a ceremony in the
Moluccas capital of Ambon, 2,300 km (1,440 miles) east of Jakarta,
Reuters reported.
"But this (handover) could be
the first and the last if the authorities fail to fulfil our
hopes," he added.
A cannon, dozens of automatic
rifles, magazines, swords, knives, ammunition and 350 homemade
bombs were surrendered to the Pattimura military command in a
ceremony at a mosque.
Attamimi said the decision to give
up some weapons was taken because the group has seen a serious
effort from the authorities to disband a radical Christian
faction, the Moluccas sovereignty forum, an
Java-based Laskar Jihad became the
face of militant Islam in the world's most populous Muslim nation
after sending thousands of men in mid-2000 to fight Christians in
the once-idyllic Moluccan islands
More than 5,000 people have been
killed in Muslim-Christian conflicts in the islands which first
erupted in 1999.
The government has said getting rid
of both Laskar Jihad and the Moluccas sovereignty forum would be
an important step in stopping religious clashes in the area.
Laskar Jihad is among those
opposing a peace truce signed in February by representatives of
Muslims and Christians.
Pattimura Military Commander
Brigadier General Mustopo promised his troops would go all out to
crack down on any separatist group in the islands.
He also said Laskar Jihad's move to
give up weapons has nothing to do with the possible release of its
Commander Jafar Umar Thalib, under arrest for allegedly inciting
violence in Ambon last month tha
Witnesses said the situation was
generally calm in Ambon on Sunday, and police were opening
blockades in several areas.
More than 85 percent of Indonesia's
210 million people are Muslim, but Christians comprise half of the
population in some eastern areas such as the Moluccas.
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