Conflict spreads in Mamasa

Conflict spreads in Mamasa

Violence continued in the newly
established province of West Sulawesi on Tuesday in a dispute
over the creation of Mamasa regency, some 400 kilometers from the
South Sulawesi capital of Makassar.

The conflict, which erupted
over the weekend between those in support of the creation of the
new regency and those opposed to it, spread to the neighboring
district of Mambi on Tuesday despite the presence of some 400
police officers. No deaths were reported in the latest incident,
when those in favor of the new regency attacked opponents in Salu
Assing village, Mambi, at about 3 a.m. The attackers burned down
at least five houses in the village and hundreds of residents
were forced to flee their homes. A similar attack took place in
Uhailanu village in Aralle at about 11:30 a.m. Resident Usman
Said said he and 10 other people survived the attack by jumping
into a river. The conflict, which claimed three lives on Saturday
and Monday, followed a 2002 law splitting Polewali Mamasa regency
into two regencies -- Mamasa and Polewali Mamasa. The three
mainly Muslim-districts of Aralle, Mambi and Tabulahan have
refused to join the predominantly Christian Mamasa regency.--JP