Jailed priest allowed to go to Jakarta

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Rinaldy Damanik, a clergyman jailed three years for possessing illegal firearms, has reportedly been flown to Jakarta to get medical care.

Damanik, who heads the Christian Church's Crisis Center, left Palu on Tuesday after Muslim cleric Idrus Alhabsyi contacted local authorities, after visiting the ailing prisoner.

Earlier, the priest had been barred from receiving medical treatment in Jakarta for his kidney disease.

Alhabsyi had strongly urged Central Sulawesi Police to arrest Damanik after officers suspected the Christian leader of carrying arms in the restive Poso regency. -- JP