AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Thursday December 6, 2001 2:02 PM
Troops, aid arrive in Indonesia's restive Central Sulawesi
PALU, Indonesia, Dec 6 (AFP) - Troop reinforcements arrived Thursday in Indonesia's
Central Sulawesi province after the government promised a security crackdown to end
bloody violence between Christians and Muslims.
Some 80 members of the elite Brimob police unit landed at the airport of the capital
Palu, the first batch of an extra 2,600 soldiers and police the government has
promised to curb fighting in the Poso district.
Violence between Muslim and Christian groups erupted in Poso last year and has left
more than 300 people dead and tens of thousands homeless.
The soldiers brought with them food aid for the refugees.
Coordinating Minister for Political Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono said this week that the reinforcements would assist the some 1,800
soldiers and police already in the district.
Yudhoyono, who Thursday wrapped up a visit to the region, has pledged an intensive
government security operation, initially for six months, to stop the fighting and
promote reconciliation.
In the latest reported incident in the ongoing violence, a man was killed and four
others injured after some 300 Muslim protesters clashed with security personnel in
Poso town on Monday, police said.
The crowd accused the army of detaining six Muslims and demanded their release.
The military has denied knowledge of the six.
One of the six men, who have been missing, was found dead in the Poso river on
Wednesday.
A bomb was also thrown into a church hall in Poso Monday, damaging the building.
Yudhoyono said the security operation would begin by disarming the rivals and
expelling people from outside the area.
The violence has been blamed by many on the arrival in Poso of thousands of
members of the Laskar Jihad (Jihad Force) -- a Muslim organisation based in Central
Java which has battled Christians in the Maluku islands.
Yudhoyono Wednesday addressed hundreds of concerned people Tentena, a
predominantly Christian town some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Poso town.
The meeting was attended civic and religious leaders and representatives of
thousands of refugees sheltering in the town, Noldy Tako of the Christian Crisis
Center said.
He promised a government crackdown on lawlessness in the region, Father Jimmy
Tumbelaka of the Roman Catholic Church said.
Copyright © 2001 AFP. All rights reserved.
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