Christian delegates shun Poso peace talks

Christian delegates shun Poso peace talks

La Remy and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Palu/Jakarta

A second round of peace talks to end the renewed violence in
Poso, Central Sulawesi, began on Sunday despite only a few
Christian figures attending the two-day meeting held in the
provincial capital of Palu.

The fresh talks, brokered by Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, appeared futile as no influential
Christian leaders appeared.

Their absence dealt another blow to achieving long-lasting
peace in the once-ravaged town, where some 2,000 people have been
killed in two years of intermittent sectarian fighting.

The Muslim group threatened to walk out of the meeting,
accusing its rival faction of disrespecting the important forum.
But they later dropped the threat, arguing that the talks were
not intended to make any deal.

At least 25 representatives from both sides were invited to
the meeting.

Most Muslim delegates were present.

But, only five Christian figures -- J. Santo, S. Pelima, P.
Nelitan Alamako, Hari Kabi and D. Langgara -- showed up.

Local influential priest Renaldy Damanik, who led the
Christian delegation in the first peace talks held in the South
Sulawesi hill resort of Malino last December, was not seen at the
tightly-guarded meeting venue in the Golden Hotel.

He could not be reached for comment on Sunday evening. A
member of his family, named only as Era, told The Jakarta Post
that Damanik was going to hospital to visit his parents in law.

Langgara said his group had decided not to attend the second
peace talks in protest against many unexplained violations of the
Malino agreement signed by Muslim and Christian representatives.

"Our group has issued a statement signed by Pak Renaldy
Damanik calling its members not to attend the current meeting,"
he said.

Langgara said his faction was disappointed over the failure of
local security authorities to solve a spate of recent attacks on
mainly Christian victims.

Santo expressed similar grievances and wanted the meeting
postponed until next week as many Christian figures were busy
dealing with around 7,000 refugees who fled the religious
violence.

Amirullah Sia, secretary of a working group to disseminate the
Malino accord, confirmed that the Christian delegation had told
the local authorities not to join the second round of peace
talks.

Kalla's aide, Faridz Husein, who helped facilitate the meeting
in Palu, said the talks would go ahead despite the absence of
many Christian delegates as it would not take any decision.

"The meeting would be to evaluate the implementation of the
Malino Declaration," Faridz said.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar was also among the
Kalla-led government delegates who arrived in Palu on a special
flight on Sunday morning.

Kalla, who brokered the December peace agreement, and Da'i
stayed briefly and flew directly on a helicopter to Tentena
subdistrict and other troubled areas around Poso, where they
talked separately with Christian and Muslim figures. It was not
clear what they discussed.

Security was largely restored in Poso following the Malino
deal. But the once-ravaged town recently saw a series of fresh
attacks blamed on armed groups of unidentified people. None of
the attackers have been captured.

The latest violence took place on Saturday when residents at
two villages of Tongko and Malei Lage fought each other at 4
p.m., raising tensions there.

During the violence, villagers held hostage Pvt Andi Amir, a
police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) member. His whereabouts remained
unknown by Sunday.

Deputy Poso Police chief Comr. Yusmanjaya confirmed the clash,
but did not say whether there were any casualties.

The fighting caused a heavy traffic jam and forced motorists
to avoid traveling through the riot-hit villages.

Last week gunmen sprayed a bus with bullets, killing Lorenzo
Taddei, a 34-year old Italian tourist, and wounding four other
passengers, all locals.

It was the fourth attack on public transport since the Malino
peace pact.

In an effort to quell the renewed attacks that have forced a
new exodus of thousands of refugees, local security authorities
were deploying more reinforcement troops to Poso.