_WORLD WATCH______________________________
____________________ Indonesia ________________

Christians plead for help
Jihad warriors threaten thousands
A group of buildings owned by the Catholic Church in Indonesia are under siege by Muslim extremists, according to London-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide. The group said members of the extremist Laskar Jihad have been fighting security forces in Ambon city in the Moluccas region for control over a Catholic diocesan educational compound. The compound is apparently seen as a strategic location because of its position overlooking several Christian neighborhoods.

More than 9,000 people have been killed in fighting in the Moluccas, a majority Christian region in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, since fighting between rival gangs began in 1998. Last year, organized militias of Muslim holy war fighters entered the region with more sophisticated weapons and embarked on a campaign to eradicate Christians.

The aims of the latest attack in Ambon are reported to be to use the educational complex as a training center for jihad warriors, as well as a base of operations from which attacks might be launched on the surrounding Christian neighborhoods.

In a related development, Christians on the island of Sulawesi have sent an urgent appeal to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, pleading for help to avoid further bloodshed there. More than 50,000 Christians in the area have been forced from their homes after recent attacks by Laskar Jihad. The Fides news service reports that the Christians on Sulawesi, surrounded by Islamic militants, have begun to arm themselves in preparation for what they see as a potentially decisive and bloody battle for survival.

Eyewitnesses in Sulawesi provided a chilling picture of the violence against Christians there. Bishop Josef Suwatan of Manado in northern Sulawesi told Fides that scores of well-organized, uniformed militia equipped with machine guns, rocket launchers, and even bulldozers had attacked nearby villages, destroying hundreds of Christian homes. Father Langgino Sangkide, from the town of Tentena, said, “Thousands have fled because their homes were burned. The police arrived eventually, but too late.” Another Catholic priest charged that local officials had given the Islamic warriors free rein to attack the predominantly Catholic town.

The Jakarta Post reported that hundreds of homes in settlements around the capital of Poso had been destroyed by uniformed members of the Laskar Jihad militia. In three days of violence the villages of Betalemba, Patiwunga, Tungkura, Sanginora, and Debua were burned to the ground.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has announced that she will send troops to the region to restore order, after a series of violent clashes. Embattled Christians are concerned, however, that Indonesian troops have failed to stem the rise in Islamic violence in their region over the past few years. In fact there are persistent reports that Indonesian military officials are informally cooperating with the Islamic militant groups. President Sukarnoputri is also reportedly loath to take decisive action against Muslim zealots, since Islamic groups form one of the bases of her shaky ruling coalition.

Back to Catholic World Report January 2002 Table of Contents