Indonesian religious clashes between Christians and Muslims in central
Sulawesi province left one dead and four injured, said Rusli Pasau, a reporter
for local radio, citing police and doctors.
Asna Awad, a Poso hospital doctor, examined the body and treated the injured,
Pasau said. Islamic extremists said they torched a Catholic church last night
and plan to target a nearby Protestant church tonight, he added.
Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, has faced
increasing religious strife since former President Suharto was deposed in 1998.
``Five hundred troops are guarding the area, with 2,000 ready to be sent to the
conflict area'' in Poso, Sulawesi, said Admiral Widodo Adisucipto, chief of the
Indonesian Armed Forces. ``What we have done to prevent the conflict from
spreading is contain the clash areas, localizing the potential conflict.''
The government is preparing to send in 2,000 more troops to quell the conflict
and Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono will visit Poso on Wednesday.
There's concern about a repeat of last year's Christmas bombings, when two
dozen churches were bombed countrywide, as militant Islamic groups are angry at
the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan, which they see as a war on
Islam.
While Muslims in Indonesia are largely moderate and have elected a secular
regime to power, some Islamic groups have been voicing protest at the U.S.-led
war on terrorism.
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network could try to base itself in Southeast Asia
if forced out of Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Admiral
Dennis Blair, commander of U.S forces in the Pacific. Blair said the U.S. is
``looking hard'' at links between al-Qaeda and militant Islamic groups in
Indonesia, such as Laskar Jihad and the Free Aceh Movement, the paper said.
Laskar Jihad
Laskar Jihad, which has bases in Jakarta, near Yogjakarta in central Java and
Ternate in Maluku province, has sent militants into Poso as it advocates
violence to expel Christians. Laskar Jihad is behind the three-year-long
religious strife in neighboring Maluku.
Militants who blockaded Poso streets to protest arrests of seven Laskar Jihad
members were met by police warning shots to disperse, residents said. At least
seven people died in pitched battles last week, and the death toll has exceeded
1,000 in two years.
Residents say distribution and planting of agricultural produce has been
disrupted, raising prices.
While prices of vanilla, cashew nuts, coconuts and palm oil remain stable,
demand for cinnamon exceeds supply in the capital Palu, causing prices to surge
6 percent to 16,000 rupiah a kilogram from a week ago, Antara news agency said.
That's more than the 12,750 a kilogram the spice is fetching elsewhere.
Lives in Danger
Christian groups say the lives of as many as 50,000 people, mostly in refugee
camps at the lakeside town of Tentena, are in danger and are broadening their
appeals for help to the United Nations and the international community. They
say they are trapped as roads are blocked off.
At least 21 Christian villages have been destroyed in the past few weeks, with
the local police unable to defend them, said Sydney-based Ian Freestone of the
Maluku Support Project, a group that has taken up the Sulawesi cause with the
Australian government.
This weekend, Sepe village was seized and nearby Silanca is under threat while
those fleeing to military barracks in Kawua were turned away, Freestone said.
``I have spoken to the Australia deputy prime minister (John Anderson) to bring
the conflict to international attention,'' Freestone said.
Afghan War
Laskar Jihad came to prominence last year when it joined an ongoing religious
conflict in Maluku. Its leader is Jafar Umar Thalib, who fought against the
Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and has met bin Laden.
The group has focused on areas with a substantial Christian population. The
Maluku population was 37 percent Christian and 57 percent Muslim before the
group spearheaded attacks there and seized towns such as Ternate.
About 18 percent of central Sulawesi residents are Christian, while
three-quarters are Muslim. In north Sulawesi, which Christians fear will be the
next target, Christians and Muslims are evenly matched at 48 percent.
Thalib and Laskar Jihad have repeatedly refused to comment though the group's
Web site declares its aim of sending militants to Poso.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri hasn't commented directly on Sulawesi though
she warned extremists groups against using religion to pursue their
self-interest, the Jakarta Post said.
The government and military have a vested interest in keeping the conflict
alive, the Jakarta Post said, citing Syamsuddin Haris of the National Institute
of Sciences.
Separately, the Jakarta Post said on Sunday fighting erupted between residents
of the predominantly Muslim Kulur village and the predominantly Christian
village of Porto in Maluku, killing two people and wounding one.