JAKARTA (JP): At least
one person died on Sunday evening in an armed clash between rival
Moslem and Christian gangs in Malei Lage village near restive Poso,
Central Sulawesi, some 1,600 kilometers northeast of Jakarta, DPA
reported.
Brigadier General Zainal Abidin Ishak, chief of the province's
police, confirmed the incident, adding that two people, including
a policeman, had been kept hostage by local residents of Tongko
village since Saturday, with their fate still being unclear.
Zainal Abidin ordered strong measures be taken against the
troublemakers in a bid to stop the mounting violence which has
claimed more victims in recent weeks, including an Italian
tourist, Lorenzo Tadey, who was killed in an attack on a public
bus last Thursday.
Church workers in Poso blamed Laskar Jihad, a Java-based Moslem
hard-liner group, for the killing on Sunday evening, and for much
of the recent violence.
"We are still searching for another person, who is
missing," said Damanik from the Christian Church crisis
center in Tentena, a district town nearby Poso.
The new wave of violence has forced about 2,100 residents from
Matuto and Malitu villages to flee their homes.
On Sunday, a group of people attacked Rononuncu village,
burning to the ground at least 17 houses, said Damanik.
He also blamed the death of Italian national Tadey on Laskar
Jihad members. The militant group has sent an estimated 1,500
members to Central Sulawesi. But, Coordinating Minister for Social
Welfare Jusuf Kalla over the weekend denied the involvement of the
Muslim group in the incident.
The Central Sulawesi area of Poso has been a center for violent
clashes between Moslems and Christians since early 1999. More than
2,000 people have died from sectarian clashes in Poso since the
Moslem-Christian fighting broke out more than two years ago,while
tens of thousands of others have been displaced.
A government-sponsored peace agreement was signed in December
2001 by the leaders of the two rival factions to end the
bloodshed, but it has apparently failed to end the violence.
