Masked men burn two mosques in Kuningan

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

At least six witnesses have been questioned by police after an unidentified group of people set fire to two musholah (small mosques) in Kuningan regency, West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Edi Darnadi said on Friday.

No injuries were reported in the incident, which took place at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

The At-Takwa and Al-Hidayah mosques -- both located in Manislor village, Jalaksana district, belong to the Ahmadiyah sect, which adheres to an exclusive, extreme brand of Islam.

Edi said the witnesses in question were local villagers, and added that the Kuningan Police were investigating whether outsiders had played a role in the attack.

According to Edi, the witnesses told police investigators that the attackers consisted of a group of more than 10 masked men who arrived in a minibus.

He said the police had not been aware of any signs of potential unrest before the arson attacks.

"There had been an agreement among local residents (and the Ahmadiyah followers) not to disturb each other," Edi said after Friday prayers at West Java Police Headquarters in Bandung.

Tension between the sect and local villagers is widely believed to have triggered the conflict.

Earlier, the Kuningan regental administration had issued a circular banning religious ceremonies in Ahmadiyah mosques.

However, the Ahmadiyah followers have allegedly been defying the ban and holding religious activities in the mosques since the start of Ramadhan on Oct. 15, particularly tarawih (non- obligatory evening prayers).

The Al-Hidayah mosque was also attacked ahead of Ramadhan in 2002 in a protest against the Ahmadiyah sect's presence in Manislor village.

The Ahmadiyah strain of Islam is messianic in nature, with its followers believing in the future coming of Prophet Isa, or the messiah, something that is anathema to most Indonesian Muslims. Followers of the exclusive group refuse to pray under prayer leaders from other Muslim groups.

However, Edi Darnadi said he did not rule out the possibility that the latest attack was caused by some other factor besides the long-standing dispute among the Manislor villagers.

He ordered the Kuningan police to thoroughly investigate the incident so as to ascertain the motive and prevent unrest from spreading to neighboring villages.