Police bust gun shipment headed for Poso<\/p>\n
Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar<\/p>\n
City police in Makassar seized a shipment of two guns bound for
\nnearby Poso on Wednesday, thwarting an apparent attempt to
\nscuttle the Malino peace agreement signed by the Central Sulawesi
\nregency's warring factions in December.<\/p>\n
The two U.S.-made guns, engraved with the serial numbers 77190
\nSera and 2196 Savage, were found in a package at the office of a
\ncargo express company, Wislim Jaya Ekspres, located at Jl.
\nMonginsidi Baru No. 3 in the city.<\/p>\n
The package, which police confiscated, said Comr. Rudy
\nSudradjat, chief of the City Police's detective unit, also
\ncontained equipment with which to make handmade firearms and
\ngrenades, along with motorcycle spare parts.<\/p>\n
The package was listed as being sent by Jein Kadjo in Makassar
\nto an unlisted address in Poso.<\/p>\n
"We are still chasing the sender," he said, while police
\ninvestigators question two staff members of the cargo company.<\/p>\n
City police have also confiscated two automatic weapons which
\nwere discovered in mid-December after a group of unidentified men
\ntried to send them to Poso.<\/p>\n
Police were helped in no small part by "local people who are
\ncommitted to creating a peaceful and secure situation in the
\nregency," said Sudrajat.<\/p>\n
The police, he added, would continue to block the supply of
\nillegal guns and explosives to Poso to implement the peace
\nagreement in the conflict-torn regency.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the situation in Poso is gradually returning to
\nnormal two weeks after the signing of the Malino declaration,
\naccording to Madewa, an independent organization set up by the
\nlocal chapter of the Indonesian Journalists' Association (AJI) to
\nwitness the agreement's implementation.<\/p>\n
Over the last ten days, in a further sign that peace is taking
\nhold, traditional markets in Poso have been crowded by people
\nfrom different religious communities and ethnicities that had
\npreviously experienced mutual hostility, while transportation to
\nand from Poso has returned into normal.<\/p>\n
During the Idul Fitri holidays, Christians came down to
\nstreets to greet Muslim travelers and during Christmas, Muslims
\nvisited their Christian neighbors to convey their Christmas
\ngreeting.<\/p>\n
Local officials in Poso, including the provincial police
\nchief, also held a post-Idul Fitri gathering in the presence of
\nreligious and informal leaders at the Poso regent's residence
\nand, conversely, a Christmas gathering in the predominantly
\nChristian Tentena.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the deadline set by the warring factions to surrender
\ntheir weapons, the Muslim group voluntarily handed down around
\n500 handmade firearms to local security authorities.<\/p>\n
Besides an end the prolonged conflict, warring factions have
\nalso agreed to offer a one-month-long amnesty period -- between
\nJan. 7 and Feb. 6, 2002 -- during which all militias in Poso and
\ntheir supporters must surrender their guns and ammunition to
\nlocal police.<\/p>\n
According to Madewa, the socialization of the Malino
\ndeclaration will be hindered because the two factions have yet to
\nform a task force to make a coordination.<\/p>\n
"The campaign of the Malino Declaration should be conducted by
\na joint task force from the two conflicting camps to entrust both
\nPoso Muslims and Christians," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-bust-gun-shipment-headed-for-poso-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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