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September 10, 2006

Indonesia: Fatal Explosions In Poso - Is Muslim Christian Conflict Reigniting?

The Jakarta Post and Antara News report that a woman has become the latest casualty of violence in Poso, in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Late last night, at 8.25 pm local time, a bomb went off in Poso town, and a 20-year old woman died at hospital from her wounds. She had found a flashlight shaped object outside her house, and had had gone to investigate. The device exploded when she picked it up.

Two men on a motorcycle had tossed the device into the yard before fleeing. The victim has been named as Nela Saliango.

The blast was the second to take place in Poso district. On Wednesday, a 50 year old man was killed in an explosion at Tangkuran village, in the coastal region of Poso district. John Tobeli, a Christian from the neighbouring village of Tangkuran, was rushed to Poso Public Hospital, but had already died.

It seems that Nela Saliango, who died yesterday, was also a Christian, by the sound of her name. There is currently a dispute between Muslims and Christians, with Muslims demanding the execution of three Catholic men and Christians demanding the men be retried.

We reported on the case of Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42, on August 13 when their imminent execution was delayed for the duration of Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations. Though convicted in April 2001 for inciting murders of Muslims in Poso during the sectarian conflicts on May 2000, there is ample evidence that the men were tried unfairly, and may well be innocent. On August 28 the three men appealed for clemency, though so far President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has never commuted any death sentence.

On Thursday (September 7), thousands marched through the mainly Christian town of Tentena in Central Sulawesi, demanding that the executions not go ahead. The incidents for which the three Catholics from the adjoining southerly province of East Nusa Tenggara were convicted comprised part of a conflict that lasted from 1998 to 2002, and killed 1,000 people in Central Sulawesi, mainly Christians. The conflict was part of a wider war, waged in the Moluccan islands by Umar Jaffar Thalib and his government-sponsored sectarian army, the Lashkar Jihad. 9,000 people died as a result of Thalib's violence, even though he himself was never punished.

The current explosions, apparently aimed at Christians, may be connected to the issues with the three Catholics and their execution, but it is more likely that it is part of the sectarian conflict, exploited by Lashkar Jihad, which has never gone away.

On October 29 last year, four Christian schoolgirls were attacked in Poso by machete-wielding assailants. Three of these, da Yarni Sambue (15), Theresia Morangke (15), and Alfita Poliwo (19), were decapitated. A fourth girl, Noviana Malewa, survived after receiving horrific injuries. On November 8, two Christian schoolgirls were shot in the head at point-blank range. They barely survived, and it was later revealed that their attacker was a Muslim policeman.

Later that month, more Christians were shot in Poso and Palu towns in Central Sulawesi province. Three more Christian girls were attacked with machetes, and one girl called Afrianti (pictured) died from a machete wound to the neck.

On December 31, six people were killed and 43 injured in Palu, when a bomb exploded at a house selling pork to Christians. On February 3 we reported that a pastor had been one of two Christians attacked with machetes. One man had his fingers sliced off, and the pastor had his front teeth smashed out.

Christians have been the main targets of Muslim violence, but not the only targets. On March 12 we reported that Nengah Sugiarta eceived severe lacerations from shrapnel from a bomb planted at a Hindu temple in Poso.

In May, Islamists confessed to the decapitations of the three Christian schoolgirls on October 29, but police refused to link the assailants with "militant groups" in the region, in case this move "inflamed tensions".

The killings of non-Muslims in Central Sulawesi have never stopped. They have only become more sporadic.

The Jakarta Post reports that in the south of Sulawesi island, explosives have been uncovered. During a raid on a house in West Sulawesi yesterday morning, in Polewali Mandar regency, materials for bomb-making, including gunpowder, were found.

Five occupants of the house, which had been under surveillance for a month, were arrested.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at September 10, 2006 9:17 AM

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Posted by: Saatanan Islam at September 10, 2006 2:08 PM

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