Four injured in fresh Poso violence

POSO, Central Sulawesi (JP): A band of armed men wearing ninja outfits wounded two villagers during their assault on a minivan in the village of Pinedapa as tension continued to escalate here on Wednesday.

A retaliatory strike followed later in the afternoon, seriously wounding two locals.

No deaths were reported in the latest outbreak of violence to hit the Central Sulawesi coastal regency.

In the morning ambush, the attackers, wielding knives and guns, attacked and shot at two residents of Tokorondo identified as Anto, 39, and Sudirman, 35, who were on their way to Poso.

Sudirman sustained minor wounds, while Anto was severely injured and immediately rushed to the Poso hospital for emergency treatment.

Security forces responded promptly to control the violent clashes and disperse crowds to prevent the violence from spreading. The provincial police claimed to have arrested two men in Pinedapa and seized three firearms.

Religious conflicts between the region's Christian and Muslim communities broke out in the middle of 2000, resulting in the deaths hundreds of people in Poso.

Meanwhile, a Palu prosecution team submitted a counter memorandum on Thursday in response to an appeal filed on behalf of three prisoners sentenced to death in connection with the Poso bloodshed last year.

Prosecutor Iskandar Sukirman said the brief rejected the contents of the appeal request demanding the release of Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu, who were found guilty of premeditated mass murder in the Poso riots.

The Central Sulawesi high court had upheld the Palu District Court's death penalty based on conclusive evidence.

The convicts' attorneys, in presenting their appeal, should have questioned the legal basis of the court decision rather than the testimonies of witnesses, Iskandar added. (24)