AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Friday June 7, 2002
Christians in Indonesian island fear bomb could reignite fighting
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) - Indonesian police Friday sent a forensics team to
investigate a bus bombing which killed four people in Central Sulawesi as local
Christians expressed fears it may trigger new unrest with Muslims.
The bomb on Wednesday also injured 17 people near the town of Poso. It was the
worst act of violence in the Poso region since a December peace pact ended two
years of bloody Muslim-Christian clashes.
Father Luther Meringgi of the Moria Christian Church in the town of Tentena near Poso
said he feared the blast could "unleash new violence" between the groups.
"Fear is not easy to be put aside but the Christian community here and our Muslim
brothers are tired of violence and we just have to deal with any possible impact from
the incident," Meringgi told AFP by telephone.
Poso district military chief Lieutenant Colonel Kurnia Dewantara, quoted by the state
Antara news agency, said officials found "strong indications" the blast was the work of
outsiders.
Meringgi refused to speculate on suspects. But he said authorities must remove
Muslim Laskar Jihad fighters from the island since "both the Christian and Muslim
community are exhausted with violence."
He said people from both faiths mingled at street markets and government offices in
Tentena on Friday. A friendly football match involving Muslim and Christian players
was also held.
The Java-based Laskar Jihad Muslim militia has sent fighters to Poso, where
intermittent Muslim-Christian fighting broke out in 2000. An estimated 500 to 1,000
people were killed and tens of thousands made homeless.
The group denied involvement in the bus blast. "Our mission in Poso is to bring peace
and we are committed to do so," said a spokesman, Eko Raharjo.
Small bombs went off in three separate locations in Poso last week. No one was hurt
but fires started by the blasts destroyed four electronics stores.
A senior local detective said at the time that outsiders were trying to foment trouble.
Another peace pact, also brokered by Jakarta, was reached in February between
Muslims and Christians in the Maluku islands to the east of Sulawesi.
That agreement has also been threatened by bombings and other acts of violence.
Copyright © 2002 AFP. All rights reserved.
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