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