Cop declared suspect in church blast

Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu

National Police Headquarters has named a senior police officer as a suspect for his alleged role in last December's church bombings here.

Adj. Comr. Is, who serves with the Central Sulawesi Police, was named a suspect after a police investigation into his activities since January, said Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi.

Adj. Comr. Is is the first senior police officer to be named a suspect in sectarian bombings in Central Sulawesi. Other police officers linked with bombings in the province have been low-ranking officers.

According to Aryanto, the police officer, who is the chief of vehicle registration, was arrested in January after police investigators discovered evidence that strengthened charges against him, including a bullet found in the vicinity of a church in Palu.

Ballistics tests showed the bullet was from a gun belonging to the police officer.

"The police officer is now being detained for questioning at National Police Headquarters in Jakarta. His wife was also arrested and is being questioned at Central Sulawesi Police Headquarters," Aryanto said.

Last December, hundreds of people in a church in Palu were praying when unknown assailants sprayed bullets into the congregation. Later that night, a bomb went off in another church in the city -- Immanuel Church -- injuring at least five people.

The shooting came five months after a similar attack that left reverend Susianti Tinulele, 29, dead. Susianti was shot dead by an unidentified man while delivering a sermon in Effata Church in Palu in July this year. Four others were also injured in the incident.

Palu is only a few hundred kilometers from the restive regency of Poso, where major bloody conflict took place in 2000. The sectarian conflict left some 2,000 Muslims and Christians dead and dozens of others fled the area for safety.

Government-sponsored peace talks were held in 2002 to resolve the conflict, but tension continues to grip Poso as intermittent attacks occur in the regency.