Gorontalo police stay alert

Gorontalo police stay alert

GORONTALO, Gorontalo: The Gorontalo Police Precinct in North Sulawesi province is on "high alert" against any possible spread of the Poso sectarian conflict to the province, which borders Central Sulawesi, approximately eight hours by road to Poso.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Radjim Asianto said he has issued eight instructions to prevent the Poso conflict from spreading to the province.

"The eight instructions included, among others, that religious communities and leaders are asked to promote tolerance among themselves and should not be influenced easily by rumors. Locals are also asked to report on those who try to incite them to "disturb the peace", he said here on Friday.

He said the police would be very diligent in preventing outsiders from entering the area and inciting Muslims to attack churches and markets. It is widely believed that the heavily- armed, Java-based Laskar Jihad militants have been provoking locals to violence. Despite the real possibility of their existence throughout Sulawesi, and even Maluku, there have been no investigations to establish proof, so the government cannot officially crack down on the organization as a whole.

The local police, however, have recently seized 87 homemade firearms and several dozen machetes from Poso refugees, in the province. --Antara