CNSNews, January 02, 2002
Bombings At Indonesian Churches Reflect Muslim-Christian
Tensions
By Patrick Goodenough, Pacific Rim Bureau Chief
Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - The violence wasn't nearly as bad as predicted,
but a series of New Year bombings at churches in Indonesia's restive Central
Sulawesi province served as a reminder that despite a recent local peace agreement,
tensions between Muslims and Christians remain high.
There were three simultaneous explosions at three Protestant churches in the
provincial capital, Palu, at midnight, and a fourth on New Year's Day, as worshippers
gathered for a service at another church in the town.
The midnight blasts caused some damage to property, but no one was hurt - although
some 200 worshippers were in one of the churches when the bombs went off.
In the incident on Tuesday morning, two policemen examining a suspect package
were injured when it exploded.
The provincial police chief, Brig.-Gen. Andi Zainal Ishak, said the attacks were
intended to cause chaos in the area.
On December 20, warring Christian and Muslim groups signed a peace accord aimed
at ending a spate of attacks by Muslim militants on Christian villages since
November.
Since mid-2000 around 1,000 people have died in religious clashes in the province. Up
to five times that number have been killed in even worse Muslim-Christian violence in
neighboring Maluku in recent years. Central Sulawesi and Maluku are the only parts
of predominantly Muslim Indonesia to have roughly equal Christian and Muslim
populations.
Notwithstanding the four blasts in Palu, the recent holidays have passed far more
peacefully than many residents had expected. Some militants shipped in from
Indonesia's main island of Java to support local Muslims had threatened a bloody
Christmas.
The threats revived memories of a church bombing spree on Christmas Eve 2000,
when 19 people died in nine cities. At least 13 suspects in those bombings have
since been arrested.
Fears of a repeat saw the government deploy thousands of policemen and soldiers to
ensure a tranquil Christmas and New Year. In some places, members of Muslim
organizations helped police to safeguard churches.
The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta also warned American citizens just before Christmas to
take extra precautions.
In a message the mission recalled the bombings a year earlier, while conceding that
there had been no evidence that U.S. nationals or interests had been targeted.
Small but violent protests in Indonesia following the start of the U.S.-led military
campaign in Afghanistan prompted fears for Americans' safety.
Some locals in Palu speculated that there may be other reasons for the New Year
attacks beyond religious differences, such as local trade disputes or attempts to
destabilize the government.
Since the Dec. 20 peace accord, combatants from both communities have been
surrendering weapons before police begin a planned disarmament drive during
January.
At the time the deal was struck, some voiced doubts that it would succeed in the
absence of a requirement that the Muslim militants from Java be forced to leave the
area and return home.
Churchmen and human rights campaigners have attributed much of the anti-Christian
violence to members of the Laskar Jihad organization.
In an end-of-year speech, President Megawati Sukarnoputri said her government had
achieved political stability in its first half year in power, although "not all problems
have been settled."
Megawati has had to grapple with a range of communal and separatist conflicts
across the huge archipelago of islands that comprise the world's most populous
Muslim country.\b
All original CNSNews.com material, copyright 1998-2001 Cybercast News
Service.
|
