JAKARTA (JP): - Violence
has rocked conflict-ravaged Central Sulawesi in the past three
days, leaving at least seven people injured and forcing more than
2,000 residents to abandon their homes, DPA news agency
reported on Tuesday.
A worker at the Christian Church in Poso regency told the
agency that a group of unidentified people attacked Malitu village
early on Tuesday. More than 200 villagers fled.
A similar attack took place early Sunday when unidentified
people attacked Matako village in Poso, firing gunshots and
burning several houses to the ground, wounding at least seven
people, according to the church worker, who identified himself
only as Arantuto.
According to him, about 2,100 residents from Matuto and Malitu
villages flee their homes because of the attacks.
The violence between Muslims and Christians in Poso, around
1,600 kilometers northeast of Jakarta, dates back to early 1999.
A spate of explosions has rocked Poso since Sunday, one day
after a local Muslim figure, who had been missing for two days,
was found decapitated on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Crescent Star Party (PBB) faction in the
People's Consultative Assembly called on the government on Monday
to do its best to solve the security problems of Poso, Ambon and
North Maluku.
According to the PBB faction, the government should cope with
the core of the problem by, among other things, bringing the
suspects to court.
Darmansyah Hussein of the faction said the longer it took the
government to solve the problem, the more victims would fall and
people's suffering would deepen, leading to reduced public trust
in the government.
"Last but not least, their sense of nationalism might also
vanish," he said according to Antara.
Darmansyah also called on the Assembly to issue a decision
pressing the government to work harder to solve the security
problems in the areas.
