Gulfnews.com, 10/02/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)
Mob stabs man amid rising communal strife in Sulawesi
AP
Poso: Muslims dragged a Christian man from a bus and stabbed him yesterday, a
witness and nurse said, as religious tensions continued to rise in central Indonesia
following the executions of three Roman Catholic militants.
The victim was hospitalised in serious condition with back wounds, said Yeni, a
nurse, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.
About 20 men wearing black masks blocked a road in Poso town on Sulawesi island,
the main battleground of fighting between Muslims and Christians from 1998 to 2002
that left about 1,000 people from both faiths dead.
The men stopped a bus and forced five passengers to get out, intimidating them and
stabbing one before police arrived, said a witness who gave the name Arman.
Communal tensions have risen on Sulawesi since the September 22 executions of
three Roman Catholic men convicted of leading a militia that carried out attacks in
2000, including an assault on an Islamic school that left at least 70 dead.
Human rights groups allege their trial was unfair, and have questioned whether religion
played a role in the sentencing.
Few Muslims were punished for the four years of unrest, and none to more than 15
years in prison.
Overnight on Sunday in Poso, unidentified people detonated two small bombs that
caused no injuries or damage.
Soon after, a Muslim mob set fire to a partially constructed church in the
Muslim-dominated town, said police Captain Wayan.
On Friday, more than 100 Christian youths, angered by the executions, torched a
police station and hurled rocks at a helicopter carrying a police chief, Antara news
agency reported.
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