The Australian, 16 February 2007
Indonesian was 'told to kill Christian girls'
From correspondents in Jakarta
A SENIOR Muslim militant who has confessed to beheading three Christian
schoolgirls said he was ordered to kill "infidels" in the restive Indonesian town of
Poso.
Basri said he and other militants were ordered to carry out the killings after joining a
group blamed for a series of sectarian attacks in religiously-divided Poso district on
Sulawesi island. Basri and two other men were arrested on February 1 in a police raid
after a tip-off from Poso residents. "I never killed the authorities but I killed four
Christians," he said in Jakarta.
"It was not my idea, I was told to kill. Please (spare me) the death sentence," he said
when asked if he understood he could face the death sentence. The October 2005
ambush by machete-wielding assailants triggered worldwide condemnation, and five
men already on trial for the murders face the death penalty if convicted.
Basri had said his motive was "revenge" for the deaths of some of his relatives in
sectarian attacks. He said he had joined Tanah Runtuh to learn to recite the Koran,
but then had been trained in military skills. "We were told to kill infidels, but I had only
heard about Jemaah Islamiyah here in Jakarta," he said. Basri did not say who issued
the orders. Police said some of the suspects killed or arrested during police raids in
Poso are members of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terrorist network blamed for the
deadly 2002 Bali bombings and other attacks. Basri did not say who ordered the
attack on the girls but, in an interview with Tempo magazine after his arrest, said the
killings were carried out "at the orders of Ustad (teacher) Sanusi".
In the interview, Basri said he and two others killed the girls and took their heads to
the group's headquarters as a "gift" to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of
Ramadan. Poso and the surrounding district became a focal point of communal
violence between Muslims and Christians which claimed about 1000 lives in
2000-2001. Sporadic unrest has persisted since then, with tensions rising since the
execution in September last year of three Christians convicted of inciting attacks
seven years ago.
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