The Jakarta Post, October 01, 2006
Muslim mob stabs Christian in Poso as tensions rise
POSO, Central Sulawesi (AP): Muslims dragged a Christian man from a bus and then
stabbed him Sunda! y, a witness and nurse said, amid rising religious tensions in
Central Sulawesi province following the executions of three Roman Catholic militants.
The victim was stabbed in the back and hospitalized, said Yeni, a nurse at Poso
hospital.
The attackers fled soon after police arrived at the scene in downtown Poso, said a
witness named Arman.
Poso was a main battleground in a 1998-2002 conflict between Muslims and
Christians in central Sulawesi that left a total of about 1,000 people from both faiths
dead.
Communal tensions have risen since the executions last week of three ! Roman
Catholic men convicted of leading a militia that carried out a series of 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 questioned whether their religion
played a role in the sentences.
Few Muslims were punished for the four years of unrest, and none to more than 15
years in prison.
Overnight Sunday in the city of 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 Adj. Comr. Wayan.
Indonesia is a secular nation with the world's largest number of Muslims, about 190
million. In Sulawesi and several parts of the country's east, Christian and Muslim
populations are roughly equal. (***)
All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
|
