JAKARTA (JP): Muslims
and Christians from the restive Central Sulawesi town of Poso
during the second round of peace talks in Palu, the province's
capital, vowed late on Sunday to work together to restore peace
and security to the area, agencies reported on Monday.
Officials said that some 25 members of the Muslim camp in the
district of Poso, the scene of several recent clashes, and eight
of the 23 signatories to an earlier state-sponsored peace pact,
were present.
Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla said that
many Christian representatives due to attend the meeting in the
Central Sulawesi capital of Palu late Sunday were notably absent,
due to "transportation problems".
According to Kalla, representatives from both camps agreed
during the meeting to declare those responsible for the unrest in
Poso as their common enemies. "Any anarchist in Poso will
become our common enemy. That is the result of the agreement
reached by thesignatories of Malino I (previous peace pact) in
Palu," Kalla said.
The meeting agreed that the civilian population should play an
active part in helping the authorities maintain peace in the area
and should not offer protection to those guilty of creating
unrest.
The province's police spokesman Agus Sugianto stated that in
general, the situation in Poso was under control, although there
had been some violence and tension here and there over the past
weeks.
However, he could not immediately confirm a report from the
state Antara news agency which said that one man was found
with a gunshot wound in Poso town late on Sunday evening. Two men,
including a policeman, were also abducted by a group of unknownmen
on Saturday.
National Police chief General Da'i Bachtiar, who also observed
the Palu talks, was quoted as saying that reinforcements would be
deployed to Poso. An evaluation of conditions in Poso showed
tensions had begun to return following a gradual pullout
ofreinforcement in July, he said.
An army battalion from South Sulawesi and an elite police unit
from Jakarta were dispatched to Poso on Saturday to reinforce 280
soldiers and 2,120 police already in the district, he said.
Poso has seen more than two years of intermittent sectarian
clashes between Muslims and Christians that has left between 500
and 1,000 people killed and tens of thousands homeless.
