The Jakarta Post, 11/15/2004 11:34:52 AM
Authorities ordered to step up security in wake of bomb
JAKARTA (DPA): Indonesian authorities have been ordered to step up security in the
restive town of Poso, Central Sulawesi province, in the wake of a bomb attack that
killed six people over the weekend, a media report said on Monday.
Coordinating Minister for Politics, Justice and Security Widodo A.S. said security
forces in Poso, about 1,800 kilometres northeast of Jakarta, had been ordered to work
harder to prevent more bomb attacks in the area, the state-run Antara news agency
said.
"Security authorities must carry out preventive efforts," Widodo said after visiting with
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for the Muslim holiday of Idul Fitri, which
marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Widodo said he had received a report from National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar
that the bomb that exploded near a minivan packed with passengers in Poso on
Saturday morning, killing six people, was homemade. Several cars were damaged by
the blast that caused panicking buyers and sellers to flee a nearby market.
Two people were killed immediately in the blast, while the other four victims died
either en route to the hospital or while receiving treatment. Three others were
seriously wounded.
The incident is the latest in a region that has been plagued by sporadic
Muslim-Christian violence for the past four years.
Central Sulawesi province, and especially Poso district and nearby areas, suffered
from violent clashes between Muslim and Christian communities in 2000 and 2001
that killed some 1,000 people.
In early 2002, a government-sponsored peace accord was signed by rival party
leaders aimed at ending the conflicts, but tensions remain and violence is frequent.
Last week the driver of a minibus was shot and killed by two unidentified assailants
who escaped on motorcycle. The shooting came only days after a Christian village
chief was beheaded in Poso on Nov. 4.About 90 percent of Indonesia's 215 million
people are Muslims, making it the world's most populous Muslim country. But the
area in Central Sulawesi is almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.
(**)
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