DATE=12/12/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=WAHID - AMBON (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257069
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has
called for Muslim and Christian communities in eastern
Maluku province to stop the fighting that has killed
hundreds of people in the past year. As Patricia NUNAN
reports from Jakarta, the call was backed by a warning
that the government may have to intervene more
strongly in the province if the people are unable to
resolve the conflict on their own.
Text: Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said the
violence that has taken place in Maluku province is a
"great tragedy"
-- but he says that it can be overcome. The president
called on people from the province's warring Muslim
and Christian communities to forget the past and look
towards a better future.
President Wahid also cautioned that the government
could do little to end the fighting without the help
of both religious communities. Mr. Wahid added that
the government could be "forced to intervene" if the
two sides could not agree on peace.
The president was speaking after meeting with local
community leaders in the provincial capital of Ambon,
some one-thousand-700 kilometers east of Jakarta.
Also visiting were top military officials and
Indonesian vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Local officials say more than 700 people have died in
clashes between Maluku's Christian and Muslim
communities since the beginning of the year. Human
rights groups put the figure at more than one-
thousand-300.
Little is known about the exact cause of the clashes.
Some analysts say that Indonesia's continuing economic
crisis has created
mutual resentment between the two communities -- and
that the clashes have spiralled into a series of
revenge attacks.
Local officials also say the violence in Maluku has
worsened in recent weeks -- with rioters using
automatic weapons in fighting
instead of the home-made guns, spears and molotov
cocktails that had characterized clashes earlier in
the year.
Strong security measures were put in place for the
official visit. The president and vice president were
taken from the airport on
a Navy boat across a bay to the provincial capital,
because the roads were considered too dangerous.
It is President Wahid's first visit to Ambon since he
took office six weeks ago. Mr. Wahid says ending
sectarian violence and also the separatist unrest that
has been plaguing Indonesia for the past few years is
the priority of his administration. (Signed)
NEB/PN/PLM
12-Dec-1999 05:09 AM EDT (12-Dec-1999 1009 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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