VOA, 24 January 2007
Sectarian Violence in Indonesia Reaches Critical Stage
By Chad Bouchard, Jakarta
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Experts say a Southeast Asian terrorism network has expanded its influence in
Central Sulawesi amid esc! alating violence during the past month.
A new report from the International Crisis Group says terrorist cells are behind attacks
against Christians in central Sulawesi during the past three years.
Those attacks were previously thought to be an extension of local sectarian violence
between Muslims and Christians that has plagued the area since 2001. But research
by the Brussels-based policy institute shows that the attacks were engineered by the
regional terror network, Jemaah Islamiah, as part of its agenda to escalate religious
conflict.
Jemaah Islamiah is connected to bombings in Indonesia, including blasts in Bali in
2002 that killed 202 people.
[PHOTO: Members of an Indonesian anti-terror squad take part in a raid on an Islamic
militant stronghold in Poso, 22 Jan 2007]
The report warns the Sulawesi violence could spread. Anger at police raids this month
could radicalize militants who have previously opposed attacks on Western targets,
boosting Indonesia's weakened militant movement, says Sidney Jones, director of the
Crisis Group's Jakarta office.
"The prob! lem now is, and it is a real serious danger, is that the jihad in the Poso
area that has up till now been primarily focused on revenge against local Christians
will in fact turn into a jihad against the police, and that is what needs to be avoided at
all costs," said Jones.
A January 11 raid on militant hideouts in Central Sulawesi province caused an influx of
mujahedin fighters to help defend remaining members of Jemaah Islamiah. Fifteen
people were killed in a three-hour shootout on Monday in Poso, the provincial capital.
The raids were aimed at capturing 20 key militant leaders placed on a most wanted
list in May 2006.
In the report, Sidney Jones calls for the Indonesian government to move quickly to
calm rising tensions. She questions whet! her police used excessive force in the raid
on Monday.
"Well I think the government has to move extremely quickly to both explain why these
individuals were wanted, exactly what they had done, but then I also think it is
important that they investigate the way the operations were conducted so that the
anger against the police is at least addressed and people can see through an
independent investigation whether additional measures could have been taken to
prevent these casualties or not," said Jones.
Central Sulawesi remains scarred by sectarian conflicts between Muslims and
Christians that have killed more than 1,000 people since 2001.
Most Indonesians are Muslim, but about half of the population in Poso is Christian. |
