Bodies found in Poso

POSO, Central Sulawesi: Military troops on duty in riot- wrecked Poso have recovered 39 bodies from three mass graves in Togalo village, some seven kilometers south of here, Antara reported on Saturday.

The news agency said all the bodies, some of them children, were decomposed when they were found on Friday. The largest grave was located across the Poso river where 30 bodies were discovered.

The troops also investigated a spill of blood in the village's meeting hall, according to Antara.

"All the casualties might have been slain in the hall," Col. M. Slamet, the commander of Operation Maleo 2000 to restore order in Poso, told the agency.

The soldiers will continue their search for other mass graves following a confession by an alleged perpetrator identified as Domingus Soares that his men had killed over 100 people in the village since the sectarian rioting erupted on May 23. (amd)