'Third party' behind bloody Kupang riots<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Rights campaigner Benjamin Mangkoedilaga said on
\nSaturday that an investigation into recent unrest in Kupang, East
\nNusa Tenggara, revealed that it was not a spontaneous eruption of
\noutrage over earlier unrest in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Instead, it was determined that a \"third party\" masterminded
\nthe attacks against mosques and properties of the Muslim
\ncommunity in the predominately Catholic region, Benjamin said in
\nBandung.<\/p>\n
The new member of the National Commission on Human Rights was
\nquoted by Antara as saying that witnesses reported the presence
\nof strangers in their neighborhoods just before the rioting broke
\nout.<\/p>\n
\"The strangers wandered around in the sites of the rioting,\"
\nsaid Benjamin, while \"most Kupang residents claimed they did not
\nknow how the unrest began. They learned about the rioting after
\nit spread.\"<\/p>\n
\"There's no indication that the unrest was in retaliation for
\nthe tragedy in Ketapang\" he said. Ketapang, West Jakarta, was the
\nscene of unrest in which 14 people were killed late last month
\nwhen residents attacked churches.<\/p>\n
\"What we have, instead, are indications that the (Kupang)
\nunrest was plotted so that it looked like an interreligion
\nconflict,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Benjamin described how the people he spoke to did not bear any
\ngrudge toward people of other faiths or ethnic groups.<\/p>\n
He also said that Muslims who lost their homes were given
\nshelter by Catholic missionaries, while the damaged mosques were
\nrepaired with the help of the Catholic community.<\/p>\n
President B.J. Habibie met with some officials and community
\nleaders from East Nusa Tenggara on Friday in Jakarta where they
\nagreed that the rioting was triggered by attempts to use religion
\nto pit one group against another.<\/p>\n
\"The torching of places of worship in Kupang was not caused by
\nreligion-, race- or ethnic-related issues but by attempts to use
\nreligion to pit one group against the other and to commit an act
\nof deception,\" East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet Tallo said after
\nthe meeting with Habibie.<\/p>\n
The Kupang riots on Nov. 30 followed a procession initiated by
\nfour Christian youth organizations to memorialize the Nov. 22
\nriots in Ketapang in which numerous buildings were also damaged.<\/p>\n
At least 11 places of worship were set ablaze and more than a
\ndozen houses, a haj dormitory, government offices and school
\nbuildings were extensively vandalized in the Kupang riots,
\ncausing material losses of nearly Rp 30 billion.<\/p>\n
Police claim they have strong evidence linking eight people to
\nthe Kupang riots. (swe)<\/p>",
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