HTML pages designed & maintained by Alifuru67 Copyright © 1999/2001 - 1364283024 & 1367286044		Ambon Island   Ambon City        Latupatti   Want to Help? ASSIST News Service, 22 October 2001 ISLAMIC EXTREMIST WAR ON CHRISTIANS SPREADS INDONESIA 22 October 2001 Two members of the militant Islamist organization Laskar Jihad, reportedly linked to Osama bin Laden, were shot dead by police near Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday 20 October. Some 200 members of the Laskar Jihad are reported to have come to Sulawesi from the nearby Moluccas islands where they have been waging a holy war of genocidal proportions against the local Christian population for almost eighteen months. Some 10,000 Christians have been brutally massacred in the Moluccas islands, half a million more have been forced to flee their homes, and thousands have been circumcised against their will, and forced to convert to Islam. The extremists are widely reported to have been assisted by some units of the military in several of their raids. Now the Laskar Jihad is said to be exporting its campaign of terror to Sulawesi, where tensions were already high and intercommunal violence a sporadic threat. (Police also killed six Christians on 20 October, who were allegedly involved in an attack on a Muslim neighbourhood. Christians in Sulawesi have faced repeated attacks by Islamic extremists since 1999, and some have taken steps to defend themselves and their families.) Whilst the leader of Laskar Jihad has faced no worse than a limited period of house arrest earlier this year, Alex Manuputty, the head of the Front for a Sovereign Maluku, is facing prosecution for no more than raising a separatist flag. Commenting on this phenomenon one sociologist is reported in the South China Morning Post as saying, "It’s not that separatism is really considered a threat in Ambon these days, but by talking about that, the authorities hope to distract us from the activities of the Laskar Jihad." Meanwhile an unnamed Western diplomat commented, "No one dares to touch the Laskar Jihad, but it’s OK to nab a guy who lacks serious backing and explain away a lot of brutality against Christians in the process." Received via email from: M @ Masariku@yahoogroups.com Copyright © 1999-2001  - Ambon Berdarah On-Line * http://www.go.to/ambon HTML pages designed and maintained by Alifuru67 * http://www.oocities.org/baguala67 Send your comments to alifuru67@egroups.com