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Ambon
mayor urges police to arrest residents who hoist separatist
flags
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The
Jakarta Post
April
14, 2003
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Ambon mayor urges police to
arrest residents who hoist separatist flags
AMBON, Maluku (JP): Ambon Mayor M.J.
Papilaya instructed the police on Monday to arrest any resident
seen hoisting the South Maluku Republic (RMS) separatist flag
here.
"Hoisting the separatist
movement's flags is a menacing act that could result in harming
other Ambonese who want a peaceful life," Papilaya told the
official Antara news agency.
The mayor said he had also
instructed all heads of villages and subdistricts around the city
to play an active role in encouraging people not to respond
quickly to provocations.
Security in Ambon and other parts
of Maluku has gradually returned to normal following the sectarian
conflict that wracked the region from January 1999.
One of the root causes of the
conflict, which has killed thousands of Muslims and Christians, is
the hoisting of the RMS flag by supporters of the separatist
movement.
Earlier, The Indonesian Military (TNI)
warned the separatist Maluku Sovereignity Front (FKM) not to hoist
the flag of the RMS to mark its anniversary on April 25.
"I will arrest those who hoist
the RMS flag," chief of the Pattimura regional military
command, Maj. Gen. Agustadi SP.
FKM secretary-general Mozes
Tuanakotta had recently said that he and 2,500 supporters of the
RMS were ready to hoist the RMS flag on April 25.
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