Police fail to arrest minister in Poso<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Manado\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police in the conflict-torn town of Poso, Central Sulawesi, are
\nseeking the Rev. Rinaldy Damanik, who they have accused of
\nprovoking renewed violence there, his relatives and church
\nactivists said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
But the police's efforts to arrest the minister on Tuesday
\nended in failure, after his supporters in the Christian area of
\nTentena blocked officers.<\/p>\n
"The police tried to enter Tentena to arrest Pak Damanik on
\nTuesday, but people here went into the streets to block them,"
\nEdi, a relative of Damanik, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
He said Damanik, a minister known for his hard-line on the
\nPoso conflict, remained in his home and would not go into hiding.<\/p>\n
The Poso Police have declared Damanik a suspect in a spate of
\nrecent attacks in the area, most of which have targeted
\nChristians.<\/p>\n
Church activists in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi,
\nconfirmed the police's attempt to arrest Damanik using a
\nhelicopter.<\/p>\n
"A helicopter carrying security personnel, including the
\nCentral Sulawesi Police chief and the Poso Police chief, was
\nready to land in Tentena but was prevented from doing so," said
\nMona Saroin-song, the coordinator of the Crisis Center of
\nchurches in the province.<\/p>\n
Damanik recently told the Post he was prepared to be placed
\nunder arrest if the police could provide evidence of his
\ninvolvement in any attacks.<\/p>\n
He and many other Christian leaders shunned the second round
\nof peace talks held earlier this month in the Central Sulawesi
\ncapital of Palu. The talks were called in attempt to quell
\nrenewed violence between Christians and Muslims in Poso.<\/p>\n
Dominggos da Silva, a local leader who was sentenced to death
\nfor his role in the two-year sectarian conflict in Poso, which
\nhas left some 2,000 people dead, provided police with the names
\nof 16 people he said were involved in provoking the violence.<\/p>\n
Local Christian leaders said the authorities' attempt to
\narrest Damanik without first producing sufficient evidence was
\n"irrational".<\/p>\n
"Why do the police want to arrest the Reverend Damanik, who is
\nknown as a Christian leader who loves peace. He has always been
\nwise in dealing with the situation during the conflict," Mona
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Mona also questioned the police's reluctance to arrest Muslim
\nleaders, such as Adan Arsal, who Christians have accused of
\nprovoking attacks.<\/p>\n
A partial peace returned to Poso several months after Muslim
\nand Christian representatives, including Damanik, signed a peace
\ndeal last December in the South Sulawesi resort of Malino.<\/p>\n
But since June there has been a renewal of the violence, with
\nthe identities and whereabouts of the attackers remaining a
\nmystery.<\/p>\n
Victims of the recent attacks have described armed assailants
\ncarrying automatic weapons, dressed in white or black clothes
\nwith white sashes around their waists.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Jakarta, Coordinating Minister for People's
\nWelfare Jusuf Kalla said on Wednesday a third round of Poso peace
\ntalks would take place next month in Palu.<\/p>\n
"We will organize another meeting of leaders from the warring
\ncommunities in Poso in September 2002, so they will be able to
\nadhere to the agreements reached at the Malino I forum," said
\nKalla, who brokered the first round of talks.<\/p>",
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