BBC World News, Tuesday, 4 December, 2001, 16:08 GMT
Afghan fighters 'seen' in Sulawesi
Afghans and other foreigners are engaged in battle alongside the Muslim militia
fighting Christians in the Sulawesi region of Indonesia, according to a police source.
The BBC's Jakarta correspondent, Richard Galpin, said the policeman said he had
witnessed Muslim fighters stopping civilians at roadblocks and executing those found
to be members of the Christian community.
Sectarian violence has escalated in the past few weeks as large numbers of Muslim
extremists from other parts of the country have arrived in the province.
Indonesia is currently considering imposing a state of emergency on parts of Sulawesi
island where thousands of people have fled their homes amid the religious violence.
At least seven people have been killed in the past week and hundreds of homes burnt
down during clashes between armed Muslim groups and Christians.
Foreign fighters
Our correspondent says the policeman, a Christian, said he had personally
interrogated a group of six foreigners - two Afghans, two Pakistanis and two Arabs -
who were detained south of the town of Poso.
He said the six claimed to be part of an humanitarian mission but, he said, the
authorities remain deeply suspicious of their activities.
The policeman said he believed the foreigners were helping to train the Muslim fighters
who have been attacking Christian villages around Poso in the past few weeks.
Government delegation
A high powered government delegation, including several top ministers and the
national police chief has now arrived in Sulawesi, and intends to travel to Poso itself
later on this week.
The government has also pledged to send in about 2,000 extra troops to the region in
an attempt to halt the violence, however it remains unclear when they are to arrive.
Sectarian fighting
Christian groups have accused Muslim paramilitaries of the Laskar Jihad organisation
of recently entering the area and stirring up violence.
Laskar Jihad has been fighting Christians in the Moluccas islands near Sulawesi
since last year.
In October, the Java-based leader of the organisation said in a BBC interview that he
planned to send hundreds of men to the Poso region.
And on Tuesday, a spokesman for the organisation told the BBC that the fighters
were in the region to defend the Muslim community which had suffered considerable
casualties since the conflicts began.
'Living in fear'
In the province of Sulawesi at least 1,000 people have been killed in religious fighting
in the last two years. But until fresh violence broke out last week there had been a
period of relative calm.
In the mainly Christian town of Tentena on Tuesday, people were reported to be
getting their weapons ready for attacks by Muslims who have surrounded the village.
"People in Tentena and the surrounding areas are now living in fear of more violence,"
said a Catholic priest in the town, Jimmy Tumbelaka.
"There is no sense of security left."
In other parts of the region, Muslims have fled their homes fearing attacks by
Christians, police said.
©2001 BBC
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