Gus Dur condems attacks as barbaric

JAKARTA (JP): Denouncing the Christmas eve attacks on churches as barbaric acts, President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday said they were aimed at destabilizing the nation just as it is about to embark on a new era of economic revival and democracy.

Speaking to reporters at Halim Perdanakusuma air base before flying to Irian Jaya, the President said the attacks on churches in Jakarta and several other towns in Indonesia, which left at least seven people dead and dozens injured, were well organized destined to undermine his government.

"They acted out of desperation in case the government turns stable. The government is about to enter a new era of economic revival and democracy," he said.

"They want to undermine the government, to instill fear and panic among the people so that the government cannot work. Several groups are out to create a chaotic situation," he said, adding that the attacks were launched by several groups which had been used to work together.

He did not name the groups.

The President flew to Irian Jaya, capital of Irian Jaya, on Monday to celebrate Christmas with the local Christian community.

President Abdurrahman appealed to the public for calm, not to be intimidated or provoked, by Sunday's series of bombings.

He also cautioned the public against taking the law onto their own hands, stressing that he had ordered the security apparatus to deploy their full force to handle the situation quickly.

By targeting houses of prayers, the attackers were trying to set one religious community against another in Indonesia, he said. "Clearly, they are trying to use the name of Islam to destroy Christians."

From the Vatican City, Pope John Paul, in his Christmas message, on Monday condemned the violence against Christians in Indonesia.

The 80-year-old Pope made his comments in his twice-yearly message Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World) from St Peter's Square before tens of thousands of people.

"I am thinking particularly of Indonesia, where our brothers and sisters in faith, even on this Christmas Day, are undergoing a tragic time of trial and suffering," the leader of the world's some one billion Roman Catholics said.

All the three churches that were attacked in Jakarta, the Katedral, the Canisius church and the Santo Yosef, were of Roman Catholic denominations.