'Guns in Poso came from the Philippines'

'Guns in Poso came from the Philippines'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Firearms used in a series of attacks last month that killed 10
people, mostly Christian villagers, in the Central Sulawesi
regency of Poso came from the southern Philippines, National
Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Sunday.

"Our investigation in the field shows that the weapons used by
the assailants were imported from the southern Philippines," he
was quoted by Antara as saying in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi.

However, he did not say how the guns reached Indonesia. The
southern Philippines is home to Muslim separatist rebels fighting
for independence. It is a short journey by boat from Sulawesi
island.

Da'i made the statement after visiting Poso along with
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla and
Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah on Saturday to hold
talks with local religious and community leaders over the renewed
violence.

While in Poso, Da'i said the perpetrators of the recent
attacks might have links to the bombers of the JW Marriott Hotel
in Jakarta.

But he stopped short of saying they were connected to Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI), although he said several suspects in the hotel
bombing had admitted they knew the Poso gunmen.

Kalla, who brokered the 2001 peace pact to end the two-year
sectarian fighting in Poso that claimed some 1,000 lives, said
earlier he suspected that the renewed attacks on Christians in
the regency were the handy work of JI.

JI is believed to have masterminded the Oct. 12, 2002 bombings
in Bali, which killed 202 people, and the Aug. 5, 2003 hotel
blast that left 12 dead.

Saturday's dialog was aimed at encouraging residents in Poso
to give any information that could help authorities uncover the
group's network, find its training camps and catch five more
suspects still at large.

Police released on Friday the sketches of the five currently
being hunted. They were identified as two locals -- Basri and
Ramlan -- and three men from Java -- Musa, Musap and Ilham.

In an intensive hunt for the Poso attackers, a joint military
and police team captured 16 suspects and killed six others in
shootouts in jungles.

One of the detainees and one of the dead suspects hailed from
Lamongan, East Java, the hometown of convicted Bali bombers
Amrozi, Ali Imron and Ali Ghufron alias Mukhlas, police have
said.

The suspects were blamed for the Oct. 12 predawn raids on
mainly Christian villages in Poso, which killed 10 people. Two
days earlier, three others were killed in an attack by similar
gunmen in the neighboring regency of Morowali.

They will be charged under Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism,
police said.

The killings raised fears of a return to Muslim-Christian
fighting in the religiously divided town of Poso.

Meanwhile, Minister Kalla urged the conflicting parties in
Poso to bury the hatchet following the 2001 peace accord.

Local people should also reject outsiders entering their areas
without clear identities or objectives, he was quoted by Antara
as saying on Saturday.

Those responsible for public disorder in Poso should be
considered their common enemy and be resisted jointly, he added.

The minister said the signatories of the peace deal would be
invited to a special meeting after the Idul Fitri holiday to
discuss the latest security developments in Poso and Morowali.

Other community and youth figures, as well as tribal leaders
from the two districts will also attend the meeting, he added.

Besides security issues, the meeting will also discuss
employment opportunities for the increasing number of job seekers
in the areas, Kalla said.

The lack of employment opportunities was partly to blame for
the increasing intensity of conflict in Poso, he added.

Also speaking in the Central Sulawesi of Palu on Saturday,
Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah made available Rp 30 million in
humanitarian aid for victims of the recent attacks.