CNSNews, December 05, 2001
Indonesia Mulls Emergency Declaration In Conflict Zone
By Patrick Goodenough, Pacific Rim Bureau Chief
Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - Indonesia's central government is considering
imposing a state of emergency in the eastern Sulawesi region, amid fears that the
weeks leading up to major Islamic and Christian holidays could see renewed attacks
on Christians by newly-arrived Muslim militants.
Thousands more police and soldiers are to be deployed in the troubled province,
where a Muslim-Christian conflict has cost more than 1,000 lives over the past two
years.
After a period of relative calm there, sectarian violence has increased over the past
week. Thousands of Christians have fled their homes and as many as ten people have
been killed in violent attacks. Hundreds of homes were also destroyed.
Last month, a large number of militants from the Laskar Jihad organization where
shipped in from elsewhere in the archipelago, to support local Muslims in their
campaigns against Christians. U.N. officials estimated the size of the group at 7,000.
Chief Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and security force heads are
visiting Sulawesi over the next several days, and their recommendation to government
could lead to a decision on imposing a civil or military emergency.
A civil emergency places supreme authority in the hands of the governor, who may
issue regulations aimed at restoring order and can clamp down on the dissemination
of information. A military emergency places the same powers in the hands of the
military, plus the right to intercept and censor mail.
Susilo said before leaving Jakarta that fresh troops to be deployed in the conflict zone
would seek to stop the fighting, confiscate illegally-held firearms and look into "the
presence of a certain organization that should not be allowed to stay" in the area.
The main focus of concern is the predominantly Christian town of Tentena, whose
population has already been swollen by refugees fleeing violence in surrounding areas.
Church spokesmen believe Tentena may be the Laskar Jihad's next target.
"The armed militia group has destroyed at least seven [Christian] villages ... on their
way to the town," Tentena Catholic clergyman Fr. Jimmy Tumbelaka told the Jakarta
Post. "Their goal is to capture the town and celebrate Eid al-Fitr there," he said.
Eid is the Muslim holiday marking the end of the fast month of Ramadan. In Indonesia
it falls on December 16 this year.
Tumbelaka said Tentena residents were "ready with their traditional weapons to
defend the town" if the militants attacked.
He added that Christians were threatening to celebrate Christmas in the
predominantly Muslim town of Poso, about 40 kilometers away.
The priest said the forced departure of the Laskar Jihad "foreigners" was a priority, as
this would enable warring local groups to participate in reconciliation efforts.
'Afghans'
Meanwhile claims reported earlier this week that Afghans and other foreigners have
been helping the Muslim militia have been corroborated by a police officer quoted in a
BBC report.
The police source said he had been involved in questioning two Afghans, two
Pakistanis and two Arabs who claimed to have been involved in humanitarian work.
The authorities suspected them of helping train Muslim fighters.
He was also quoted as claiming having witnessed Muslim militants executing
Christian civilians they had stopped at roadblocks.
Earlier this week, a Christian source in Indonesia told CNSNews.com he had seen
posters of Osama bin Laden displayed at roadblocks set up by Laskar Jihad fighters.
He also reported on the presence of Afghans and Pakistanis, who he said were
suspected of training Muslims in the manufacture of weapons and use of explosives.
The UK-based charity Barnabas Fund, which works among Christian communities in
Muslim lands, said in a report the latest spate of violence began with the bombing of
the largest church in Poso in late November.
Since then, at least 11 Christian villages have been attacked, as hundreds of Laskar
Jihad fighters make their way toward Tentena, it said.
"In many of the villages Christian homes, churches and schools were set ablaze.
Some villages were completely destroyed, every building was burnt down and their
remains bulldozed into the ground by heavy vehicles brought by the Laskar Jihad."
With Tentena surrounded, residents fear imminent attack, Barnabas Fund said.
"One source reports how Christian men are trying to guard the town perimeter while
their wives and children desperately pack bags ready to flee the attack which they
know is sure to come."
The Laskar Jihad is based on Indonesia's main island of Java. Its members have been
involved in a "jihad" on Sulawesi's neighboring province of Maluku, where 9,000 people
are reported to have been killed since 1998.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country. Eighty-eight per cent of its
228 million people are Muslims, while five per cent are Protestant and three per cent
Catholic, according to 1998 figures.
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