Govt to impede infiltration of Poso

Govt to impede infiltration of Poso

La Remmy and Erik W., The Jakarta Post, Poso, Central Sulawesi

Jakarta plans to increase security in Poso regency, Central
Sulawesi, to prevent outsiders from perpetrating further attacks
after the deaths of at least nine people in recent raids there, a
senior minister said on Wednesday.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said three main security measures would
be utilized to prevent more deadly violence blamed on "mysterious
gunmen" in the past two weeks, which threatens to end the peace
deal brokered in December 2001, which effectively put a stop to
two years of Muslim-Christian clashes.

First, the security forces will intensify patrols in
vulnerable areas across the religiously divided district to curb
the intrusion of troublemakers from outside.

Second, the authorities are determined to cut off
communication between Sulawesi-based provocateurs and their
accomplices living in other areas.

"The central government will strive to tighten security so as
to hinder the free movement of outsiders in Poso by strengthening
intelligence operations," Susilo told journalists on the
sidelines of his visit to the town.

Third, the Indonesian Military (TNI) will station soldiers in
remote areas that are not inhabited or home to very small
communities.

Susilo said the deployment of military forces would be
concentrated in jungles and mountainous areas. "This operation is
to break up the bases of these troublemakers and detect their
activities or training camps."

He said the three crucial measures were decided as an analysis
showed that the latest attacks in Poso and the neighboring
regency of Morowali were perpetrated by trained outsiders in
cooperation with some local residents.

They had formed paramilitary gangs recruited from the local
population to launch raids on villages in a very well planned
manner, the chief security minister added.

However, Susilo could not specify the number of police and
military personnel that would be needed in Poso.

On Sunday, masked gunmen launched dawn raids on three
predominantly Christian villages; Saatu, Pantangolemba and
Pinedapa in Poso Pesisir subdistrict, leaving nine people dead.

Two days earlier, similar attackers killed three others and
burned houses and a church in Beteleme village, Morowali. A bomb
blast rocked Betania village in Poso Pesisir on Monday evening,
but caused no injuries.

The unexpected attacks prompted Susilo and officers from the
TNI and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to fly to Central
Sulawesi on Tuesday.

He visited Pinedapa, Saatu and Pantangolemba on Wednesday to
assess the situation and spoke with victims there. In Poso, the
minister was accompanied by Central Sulawesi Governor Aminuddin
Ponulele and provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha.

During the talks, local residents asked Susilo to deploy more
security personnel to the attacked villages to restore peace and
order.

"During Sunday's incident, I saw guns like those belonging to
security officers who were once on duty here," said the unnamed
head of Pantangolemba village.

Susilo also held a meeting with local religious and community
leaders, as well as government officials at Poso's Torulemba
building, where he told them to work together in a sincere way to
contain any new conflicts or revenge attacks.

Separately on Wednesday, Coordinating Minister for People's
Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who brokered the 2001 peace pact, said there
was no need for talks over the recent incidents.

"What has happened in Poso is not a conflict but purely an
attack by a certain group, so there is no need for a dialog
(among Muslim and Christian leaders)," he argued as quoted by
Antara.

Kalla claimed that the situation in Poso had returned to
relative normalcy because local people from both faiths were
united in their opposition of the unidentified attackers.

Meanwhile, Taufik Ridha said a lack of cooperation on the part
of local people was part of the police's difficulties in
uncovering a series of recent attacks by mysterious gunmen in
Central Sulawesi.

Information from people was badly needed to help unravel those
cases, he added.

Poso's Tadulako military chief Col. M. Slamet admitted that
many local civilians still carried firearms and that his office
and the local police would step up house-to-house raids and seize
any sharp weapons from the villagers.

The arms sweeps would also be done in jungle settlements as
well, he added.