Gus Dur begs forgiveness for raids on churches

JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, Abdurrahman Wahid, asked yesterday for the nation's forgiveness for the attacks on churches on Thursday perpetrated mostly by NU members.

"Considering that many of the rioters in Situbondo were members of the NU, it's the moral responsibility of NU leaders...I bow my head and ask for forgiveness for the loss inflicted on the government and the public.

"My deepest condolences for those who died and were wounded in the incident," he said in a press release yesterday. "I ask Allah to forgive those who did this without thinking of the serious impacts suffered by the public and the nation."

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, has just returned from a visit to Rome where he joined religious leaders from many countries, including Egypt, Sudan and Morocco, to pray for world peace.

Moslem ulemas in Surabaya called for calm Saturday following the riots in which five people burned to death, over 20 churches were torched and several government buildings were attacked in the eastern town of Situbondo and surrounding areas.

"I appeal to Moslems to remain calm and to not do anything that may provoke fresh riots in other places," Misbach, chief of the East Java office of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas said.

The riots were sparked by Situbondo Moslems' anger over the jail term the prosecution requested for a Moslem sect member standing trial on charges of blasphemy against Islam.

The angry mob took the law into their own hands after they considered the five-year jail term for the accused, Saleh, as too lenient. They reportedly attempted to grab Saleh from the police with the intention of killing him, but failed.

Saleh, a senior high school graduate, won the wrath of local Moslems for stating in a public debate that respected Moslem preacher As'ad Syamsu Arifin, who was a leader of NU, died under dubious circumstances; that Prophet Muhammad was not God's messenger and that Moslems do not have to pray five times a day.

The government has expressed regret over the incident that reportedly involved over 10,000 angry people from Situbondo, an East Java Santri town well-known for its reputable Islamic boarding schools.

Governor Basofi Sudirman said Saturday the authorities were searching for the root of the problem.

He said the authorities were trying to prove if the riot had to do with the land conflict in the Banongan area in August, which involved a government-owned sugar company and local sugar cane farmers.

The farmers have also been angered by the Navy's decision to claim part of the land they have cultivated for many generations. The authorities have appropriated a number of residents' houses and police have so far detained five villagers.

Eyewitnesses told The Jakarta Post Saturday that the riots took place simultaneously in Situbondo, Panarukan and Asembagus on Thursday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., involving "more than 10,000" people.

Reliable sources said 21 churches, five Catholic elementary schools, one Christian orphanage, two plazas, a court building, three cars and five motorcycles were set ablaze or attacked.

The sources said the five deaths occurred in a Pentecostal church. Among those trapped who burned to death was a physically disabled woman.

In Jakarta, the Association of Catholic Students denounced the violence and called for an impartial investigation.

"The violence was a big blow to the painful efforts to promote harmonious coexistence among people of different religions," the students said in a statement signed by association Chairman Y. Indro Surono and Deputy Secretary-General Ramelhud Pardede.

The student association said the government should address the rampant socioeconomic disparities it believes are the root of the problem.

"Without the government solving the problems, social discontent will persist and so will the tendency for people to take the law into their own hands," the statement said.

The students also called on all parties to refrain from "taking reactive actions" because it would only worsen the situation. (pan/15/swe)

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