Jakarta – Indonesia's Defence Minister, Dr Juwono Sudarsono, has blamed rogue army officers for inflaming religious war in the riot-torn Maluku islands, where seven people died in fighting between Christians and Muslims yesterday, bringing the death toll over four days to at least 28.
Despite urging that the officers be sacked, Dr Sudarsono said he could not tell the military what to do. "There are some, or even many, members of the army, according to information gathered from both of the warring camps, who have become a major cause of the clashes," Dr Sudarsono was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.
Some soldiers had been "uncontrollable factors" in the bloodshed between Christians and Muslims from the time it erupted in January last year after a dispute between a Christian bus driver and a Muslim passenger.
"There are some local Malukus' legislators who claim that they [the officers] are a cancer," Dr Sudarsono said, stressing only a minority of army personnel and no police or marines were involved.
"The army should get rid of these officers." Dr Sudarsono said he had no direct power over the army, and that he ranked equally with the military chiefs under President Abdurrahman Wahid. "All I can give is advice."
In the face of allegations that troops have taken sides, the army has begun replacing some battalions. But any changeover will take months because troops on the ground will not be withdrawn until their replacements settle in.
The World Council of Churches appealed last week to the United Nation's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Mary Robinson, to immediately visit Indonesia to urge the Government to stop human rights violations being committed in the Malukus.
Recent attacks by what the council called intruders indicated "a design to annihilate Christians or force them out of the Malukus", said a letter from the Geneva-based council to Ms Robinson.
Maluku residents said fighting raged through yesterday afternoon despite the deployment of heavily armed police and soldiers after 14 people were killed on Saturday.