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Military to oversee gradual pull-out
of Jihad members from Maluku
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Agence
France-Presse
Sunday
May 12, 2002 03:43 PM |
Maluku Military Commander Brigadier
General Mustopo said Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has ordered an
immediate withdrawal of Laskar Jihad members from Maluku and their
return to home villages, the state Antara news agency said on
Sunday.
"But a strategy should be used
in their return," Mustopo said, adding that the return will
be managed in stages.
He did not say how many Jihad
members are estimated to be in Maluku or when the pull-out will
start.
On Friday Yudhoyono said he had issued
orders for the direct removal of the Laskar Jihad and the
disbanding of a Christian-based separatist movement, the Maluku
Sovereignty Front (FKM), to try to save a precarious peace deal
reached between Muslims and Christians after years of bloodshed.
Indonesian police arrested Laskar
Jihad commander Jaffar Umar Thalib earlier this month, with the
cabinet's approval. He is charged with inciting a deadly attack on
Christian villagers.
Laskar Jihad has been accused of
stoking sectarian violence since it arrived in the island chain in
May 2000 vowing to wage "holy war". Security forces made
no move to stop their arrival.
Bitter sectarian fighting since
1999 has claimed more than 5,000 lives.
A state-brokered peace pact in
February this year brought a brief calm but has been undermined by
a series of violent incidents since early April -- notably the
April 28 massacre of 13 Christian villagers.
Last month police arrested Alex
Manuputty, the FKM leader, who was reportedly planning to raise an
illegal separatist flag -- an action that sparks outrage among
loyalist Muslims. They have said that he and 16 supporters will be
charged with subversion.
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