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Christians fight back with militias

Source
South China Morning Post - July 20, 2000

Vaudine England, Jakarta – Christian militias have formed in the North Maluku island of Halmahera, intent on wreaking vengeance against Muslim fighters, reports from the troubled area have confirmed.

The growing death toll, hundreds of thousands of displaced people and fresh evidence of Indonesian army backing of the violence also are forcing new diplomacy as Jakarta fends off the potential for foreign intervention.

"There can be no peace if the Muslims continue to attack this area and kill Christians," Sakius Odara, leader of the Laskar Jesus militia, told the BBC's Richard Galpin. "The only solution is to kick out the Muslims because we cannot live together any more."

Much recent attention has focused on the arrival in the Malukus of trained Muslim fighters from Java, called Laskar Jihad. A massacre last month in Duma, near the Halmahera capital of Tobelo, left at least 120 Christians dead.

In contrast, the newly discovered Laskar Jesus is a home-grown affair, formed in the wake of the Duma attack and swearing revenge for Christian deaths. The bitterness of the fighting is seen in the apparently systematic destruction of the Muslim areas of Tobelo.

Residents told visiting reporters Christians had burned Muslim corpses in the mosque, matching similar allegations against Muslims by Christian victims in other parts of Maluku. "It was the scale of destruction which hit me most," said Galpin, who travelled by road from Sidangolo, near Halmahera's southern port of Jailolo, up through the Kao and Malifut areas to Tobelo. "There is extraordinary destruction, whole areas completely flattened and deserted in town after town."

Reports from Jailolo say at least half the town has been destroyed as Muslim fighters have moved north from their bases in Ternate and Tidore into the Christian areas around Tobelo. Aid sources say 200,000 Muslims and Christians have been displaced by the fighting.

Recent arrivals of fresh troops are reassuring some fearful residents on Halmahera, although the fear of new attacks remains. Some sources describe the war as a form of sectarian "cleansing", citing what they call the deliberately brutal tactics. Access to Halmahera remains extremely difficult.

The BBC reports support recent revelations on film shot by Associated Press Television News (APTN) showing the army backing the militants. Survivors of the Duma killings say the Muslim fighters had backing from Indonesian soldiers. "The 30 soldiers guarding our village had all disappeared when we came under attack," villager Wens Tumada said. "They were amongst the Muslim fighters. I recognised them." The APTN footage made at the weekend in Ambon showed men in Indonesian army uniforms providing guidance and covering fire to white-clad Muslim fighters.

The revelations on the army support for the militias, and a phone call from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, forced a statement from President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday which appeared to allow for future requests by Indonesia for foreign help in the Malukus, in terms of equipment and logistics.

Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab has since insisted that under no circumstances would Indonesia request a foreign troop presence, a message he will take to next week's Asean meetings and later to the UN in New York.

Meanwhile, a shipload of 1,500 mostly Christian Ambonese has just arrived in West Timor, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

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