Cop declared suspect in church blast

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.