Jakarta – Indonesian defence minister Yuwono Sudarsono on Wednesday blamed loyalists of former president Suharto for formenting outbursts of bloody violence wracking several Indonesian provinces.
"I don't think it's the Cendana [Suharto] family but I think it's the doing of people who once were in the New Order government," Sudarsono told journalists, commenting on a bloody sectarian attack in the Maluku islands on Monday that left up to 150 dead.
"Because of their interests, they want to destabilize [the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid]," the minister said, speaking on the sidelines of a parliamentary hearing. The loyalists, he added, were "financially strong."
It was the third time in two months that Sudarsono, who was a minister for education in the Suharto or "New Order" government, had laid the blame for repeated outbreaks of communal and sectarian violence in the country since Suharto's fall on his loyalists. The same charges were aired by Maluku governor Saleh Latuconsina in an interview with AFP in Ambon last month.
Suharto stepped down in May 1994 amid massive student protests, and is now under house arrest pending a trial on charges of corruption during his 32-year rule.
Monday's attack on Halmahera island in the Malukus, the latest outburst of savage Muslim-Christian violence there, left up to 150 dead and scores injured, according to church activists.
The military put the death toll at 114, and called the church reports exaggerated. They also said their 30 men on the spot were outnumbered and helpless when faced by the some 4,000 attackers. Sudarsono agreed, and said security authorities lacked the funds and personnel to deal with the unrest plaguing the country.
"But we will overcome that [problem] little by little," he said, adding that security forces in Maluku, who have been accused of bias in the conflict by both Christians and Muslims, were facing a dilemma.
"It's not easy to take stern action on [warring] people because they [security personnel] are confronted with a very sensitive situation," he said, without elaborating.
Sudarsono also said it was difficult for authorities to prove legally allegations that weapons, fighters and funds had been supplied to the Malukus from other islands.
Security forces as well as port authorities have been criticized for failing to prevent thousands of Muslim activists from Java island, calling themselves "Holy Warriors," from entering the archipelago. Their presence in the Malukus has fuelled suspicions that they are behind the recent attacks on Christians.
Sudarsono, speaking to a parliamentary commission on defence and security also rebutted charges aired by some newspapers that elements of the military were deliberately stirring-up the violence.
"In the case of Maluku, it is possible that one or two personnel, due to emotional conditions in the field, are trapped in the conflict and directly or indirectly siding with one of the conflicting forces," he said.
"[But] I would like to stress that there is no official policy to create a murkier situation [there] as suggested by some media reports, which talk as if there are several members of the armed forces or police who are deliberately involved or carring out orders from Jakarta."