Mob burns church in Depok

JAKARTA (JP): A throng of some 400 unidentified men burned a church in Beji, Depok, south of Jakarta in the early hours of Tuesday, a police report revealed.

The mob, armed with sharp weapons, set fire to the Western Indonesia Protestant Church (GPIB) of the Shalom congregation at about 3 a.m. using Molotov cocktails, the report said.

The police report also stated that the attackers claimed themselves as members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).

None of the FPI executives could be reached last night for comment.

Police officers also refused to comment but said that the case and the motives of the burning were still under the investigation of the local police.

The entire roof of the church was burned in the fire.

Residents living near the church told reporters that the assailants were not local people. "We've never seen them before," said a resident who requested anonymity.

"My Muslim neighbors even tried to stop them," said another victim, "but the mob threatened him with a long sword."

Residents also said that they had no problems with the church or its congregation since it began in 1995.

However, a congregation member indicated that it might have been caused by a building permit problem. The church failed to acquire a permit although it was allowed many years at the location.

"I don't know why the city was so hesitant in issuing the building permit," he said.

The church evolved from a very simple shack, made of woven bamboo with roofings of thatched leaves, into a permanent building. The congregation built the church gradually from their own donations, locals said.

"We donated whatever we had, from sacks of cements to floor tilings," a member of the church sadly told reporters. (05)