Poso beheadings perpetrators 'caught by Army'

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno has been tightlipped over rumors that security authorities there have arrested a group of five men responsible for the recent beheadings of three Christian school girls in conflict-prone Poso.

A local rights activist, however, said on Tuesday that the Army's 714th Battalion had captured four men, including a former soldier, after days of hunting the perpetrators.

Oegroseno only acknowledged that "the police has summoned four or five people to be questioned in relation to the case."

"We (the police) haven't arrested anyone over the incident. What the police have done so far is to summon four or five people for questioning," Oegroseno said as quoted by Antara on Tuesday.

He said the police had questioning the men about the continuing violence in Poso -- a small town in the province which a few years ago was hit by a more than year-long Christian-Muslim conflict that killed more than a thousand people.

An Australian private television station reported on Monday that security officers had arrested five suspected slayers of the three schoolgirls.

The television station identified the killers as security personnel and said they were currently being grilled by the Poso Police.

Local activists said that one of the suspected perpetrators was a former soldier from the Army's military police. The activist -- who asked for anonymity -- identified the soldier as John Moala aka Jamal.

"One of the perpetrators works as a motorbike taxi driver, and another one as a (private) security guard," he said.

"They were captured by soldiers from the 714th Battalion. The troops captured the Army soldier, along with two of his companions, on Sunday as they combed Wekuli village in Tojo regency.

"The other one was captured on Monday, or a day after the first operation, after the troops tracked him down to the Sawo area," the activist said.

The 714th Battalion, which is stationed in Ronononcu in Poso city, was established late last year after the military authorities decided to divide the troop deployment in the regency into two battalions.

The other battalion is the 711th.

No confirmation has been forthcoming from the military so far.

While Muslims all around the world prepared to celebrate Idul Fitri, three schoolgirls -- Theresia Morangke, 15, Alfita Poliwo, 17, and Yarni Sambue, 15 -- were attacked and beheaded by unidentified assailants while they were walking to their school.

Another girl, Noviana Malewa, 15, survived the attack, although she is now in intensive care in a police hospital in the provincial capital of Palu.

Noviana, who suffered serious injuries to her face, told the police that six machete-wielding masked men on motorbikes launched the barbaric attack on the fateful day, Oct. 29.

The incident raised concern among religious leaders and local people, who believe that the beheadings were motivated by political interests rather than religious sentiment.

Over 1,000 people were killed in a bloody sectarian conflict between Muslims and Christians in Poso between 2000 and 2001.

Peace between the two communities was only reached in December 2001 following a government-sponsored truce.