Police head to Poso to help disarm factions
Erik W., The Jakarta Post, Palu
At least 337 police personnel have arrived in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu to help disarm warring factions involved in at least two years of sectarian fighting in Poso regency as part of last December's peace accord to end the conflicts.
The extra personnel, including three platoons of policewomen, will officially be dispatched to Poso by trucks on Monday by Central Sulawesi Police Chief Brig. Gen. Zainal Abidin Ishak.
The 337 police personnel arrived in Palu, around 252 kilometers from Poso, on Friday from North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and East Kalimantan.
The three provinces had each sent one company of policemen and one platoon of policewomen by boat, Ishak said over the weekend.
The reinforcements bring the number of security forces in Poso to around 4,000 personnel comprising three battalions of police and two battalions of military troops.
Ishak said the 337 extra police would be assigned to help with the month-long disarmament operations in Poso, which will commence on March 1.
They are equipped with explosive device detectors to enable them to search for bombs, grenades or other explosive devices, he said.
"Anywhere explosive devices are hidden, they will be found. So nothing can go undetected," added Ishak, also chief of the Poso Security Restoration Operation.
Ishak said the arrival of the reinforcements was part of the recent peace pact signed in the South Sulawesi hill resort of Malino on Dec. 21, 2001 by leaders of warring Muslim and Christian groups.
Under the government-brokered accord, both sides agreed to immediately halt violence in Poso, which has left more than 1,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless.
The agreement included disarming the people and expelling outsiders accused of worsening the conflicts in Poso.
Data from local police showed people had so far surrendered at least 35,413 sharp weapons, including home-made firearms, hand guns, arrows and spears, to the security authorities.
Spokesman for the Central Sulawesi Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugianto said those who had voluntarily handed over the weapons included villagers in the subdistricts of North, South and East Pamona, North Lore and South Lore.
He said most of the surrendered weapons have been destroyed and that there were only 1,818 left.
Ishak said the security authorities have obtained warrants from the Poso attorney's office to launch disarmament operations on March 1 and have met other administrative requirements to restore peace there.
He appealed to local people to help make a success of the anti-weapon raids across Poso.
Agus added that all security forces involved in the disarmament operations had undergone psychological tests to ensure that they were mentally fit to carry out such a move.
"There should be no security member who will search for weapons and disarm people arbitrarily without following the standard procedures. Therefore, they should be prepared physically and mentally," he added.
Agus said some of the police's elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) members, who recently arrived in Poso from missions in the rebellious province of Aceh, were among those undergoing such psychological examinations.
Since the peace pact was signed, more than 10,000 out of some 97,000 residents who fled their homes in the strife-torn area of Poso had returned home from refugee camps.
Most of the returning refugees were residents from the city's center, the subdistricts of Poso Pesisir, Lage and Tojo.
The security authorities were also identifying people from outside Poso, specifically the Java-based paramilitary force, Laskar Jihad, who were suspected of fomenting trouble there, to be evicted from the area.