Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – A Christian religious leader yesterday said the latest outbreak of violence in the Malukus may not have been accidental, but timed to coincide with the three- day visit to the region by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Ms Megawati arrived in Maluku's capital of Ambon with 10 Cabinet ministers in tow on Tuesday in a further bid to halt violence between Muslims and Christians.
"Everytime Megawati comes, it always happens. It seems to show the conflict has a more political colour than religious," said Mr Dicky Mailoa, a religious leader from the Indonesian Council of Churches.
On Sunday, two days before Ms Megawati's visit, the discovery of a Muslim man's body caused a riot, killing three Muslims and one Christian man in central Maluku. Ms Megawati's last visit to Maluku, in February, was also marred by violence, when a riot broke out on Haruku Island, leaving 25 dead.
Mr Mailoa said he thought groups were still trying to use the violence for political purposes. "They try to position themselves as the group with certain power to decide when the conflict stops," he said.
Another longtime observer of the Maluku conflict also thought Sunday's violence may have been manufactured in order to discredit the Vice-President, who has made some headway in limiting the violence.
"At least three parties could be trying to step in the way of Ms Megawati and so try to keep the conflict going," said Mr Tamrin Tomagola, a sociologist who heads the Reconciliation and Peace Institute.
Both Mr Tamrin and Mr Mailoa expressed surprise that there should have been a fresh outbreak of riots as everywhere except North Maluku had become quiet over the past two months, with Muslim aid workers able to enter areas controlled exclusively by the Christians or vice versa.
Mr Tamrin suspected that Sunday's violence may have been created by local fighters who have become powerful community leaders and made financial gains from the ongoing conflict.
He said if this group alone was not to blame for the violence, perhaps either members of the Central Axis or old guard elements in the Indonesian army could have encouraged locals to provoke the violence.
Wounds on one of the people killed on Sunday also suggested that the attack was intended to incite further violence. "One of the victims was sliced. I think this was done by the side that wants to destroy the peace process," said Mr Abdullah Ely from the Islamic Existence Organisation in Ambon.
Religious groups and non-government groups report that both Christian and Muslim leaders have been striving to bring peace to the troubled islands.