ASSOCIATED PRESS, Friday November 30, 2001
Christians On Sulawesi Attacked By Muslim Militia: Reports
JAKARTA, Nov. 30 (AP) -- Thousands of Christian villagers on Indonesia's Sulawesi
island are fleeing attacks by Muslim paramilitaries armed with machine guns and
rocket launchers, clerics and media reports said Saturday.
"Thousands have fled," said Langgino Sangkide, a Roman Catholic priest from the
town of Tentena. "What could they do, their houses have been burned?"
"The police came yesterday, but it was too late," he said, adding that people were
being housed in churches and local government buildings.
The Jakarta Post daily reported that hundreds of homes in settlements around Poso,
the capital of Central Sulawesi province, had been destroyed by uniformed members
of the Laskar Jihad militia group.
Fighting between Muslim and Christian villagers in the province, located about 1,600
kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of Jakarta, has claimed at least 1,000 lives since it
first broke out two years ago. It abated at the start of this year but flared again in
September with the arrival of 200 members of the Laskar Jihad militia.
Dozens have been killed in recent weeks.
Laskar Jihad, based on Indonesia's dominant Java island, gained notoriety in eastern
Maluku province where it was accused of stoking a sectarian conflict that has claimed
about 9,000 lives since 1999.
A spokesman for Laskar Jihad in Jakarta refused to comment on the latest reports.
But the group's Web site, under a banner reading "Onward to Poso," claimed that
attacks on Muslims were being organized by Christian priests.
The Jakarta Post quoted Sulewesi's Roman Catholic Bishop Josef Suwatan as saying
militiamen armed with AK47 assault rifles, light machine guns and grenade launchers
had used bulldozers to destroy homes, churches and schools.
The U.N. has warned that increasing tension in the region could trigger a flood of
refugees. At least 50,000 people have already been displaced by the conflict.
Suwatan appealed to the government to quickly beef up security forces in the region
and restore law and order.
The government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri has been reluctant to rein in
Muslim militants. Analysts say Megawati is indebted to conservative Muslim parties
that supported her campaign to oust reformist president Abdurrahman Wahid.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation. Nearly 85% of its 203 million
people are officially registered as Muslims. The remainder are Christians, Hindus or
Buddhists.
Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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