DATE=1/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA-AMBON (L)
NUMBER=2-257864
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Thousands of Indonesians have rallied in
central Jakarta over the clashes between Christians
and Muslims in the troubled Maluku Islands. The Navy
has now blockaded the islands, where intense sectarian
warfare between Muslims and Christians has exploded in
the past year. As VOA Correspondent Gary Thomas
reports from our Southeast Asia bureau in Bangkok,
Muslims are now clamoring to avenge the deaths of
their co-religionists.
TEXT: Jakarta's Merdeka Square was a tumult of anger
as thousands of Muslims rallied after Friday prayers
to demand that the government take action in Maluku
Islands.
The protestors waved banners and shouted slogans
calling for a "jihad" or holy war against Christians
in the islands, where Muslims and Christians have been
battling for the past year. Participants said they
are ready to fight in the islands to defend fellow
Muslims.
The military has sent thousands of additional troops
to the Malukus, also known as the Spice Islands, to
confiscate weapons and restore order. As of Thursday,
the Navy had also imposed an air and sea blockade to
prevent arms or other assistance from reaching the
warring factions.
The violence began one year ago on Ambon, the main
island of the Maluccan chain, and spread to other
islands. At least 15-hundred people are believed to
have died in the sectarian warfare, although some
other estimates put the death toll far higher.
Thousands of people have taken refuge in schools,
mosques, churches, and military barracks.
Harold Crouch, a specialist on Indonesian political
and military affairs at the Australian National
University in Canberra, says the tensions have been
building for a while because of the influx of Muslim
migrants. He says the lid came off with the departure
of President Suharto's authoritarian rule and the
advent of a democratic government.
// Crouch Act //
During the period of economic growth in Indonesia,
quite a lot of migrants came from Sulawesi into Ambon.
They were people of a different ethnic group, but
mainly Muslim. And that tipped the balance in favor
of Muslims against Christians. That gradually took
place over 20, 30 years. And I think that has
contributed a lot to the present tensions politically.
// end act //
Mr. Crouch says the military now has additional
reserves to call on due to its departure from its
former territory of East Timor. But he points out
that lower ranks are recruited locally, and that
troops could get drawn into the conflict, if they are
not already.
// Crouch Act //
A corporal or a sergeant or even a major is going to
get terribly upset if his family has been slaughtered
or something. He might then help a Christian group
attack the Muslim village. And this will mean that
the Muslims that have been attacked find they have a
relative in the military or the police. So the
military or police can be dragged into cases like
that, which would not be the case in more ethnically
homogenous provinces.
// end act //
Friday's protest come just one day before the feast of
Eid-Al-Fitr marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting
month of Ramadan, and there are fears that new clashes
could erupt.(signed)
Neb/gpt/GC/PLM
07-Jan-2000 05:31 AM EDT (07-Jan-2000 1031 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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