Religious leaders condemn attacks, urge restraint

Religious leaders condemn attacks, urge restraint

The Jakarta Post, Palu

Central Sulawesi remained calm on Monday, a day after masked
gunmen killed a Christian minister in Palu, as Christian and
Muslim leaders condemned the attack and urged their laity to shun
revenge.

Meanwhile, calls grew for the dismissal of Central Sulawesi
Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridha and his senior subordinates
for failing to end mysterious attacks in the province blamed on
unidentified gunmen.

The demand was raised separately by the Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS) central board and Central Sulawesi Christian Church
(GKST) secretary Noldy Tacoh.

Noldy and Frederik Latupeirisa, a former secretary of the
Sulawesi Church Youth Commission, even went as far as saying that
National Police chief Gen. Bachtiar should also be dismissed over
the latest bloodshed.

"Aside from the provincial chief, the national police chief
should also be removed because they could not ensure that
Christians are able to perform their religious rituals in peace
in the country," Frederik said.

Da'i arrived in Palu on Monday and visited the scene on Jl.
Banteng, Palu, and the house of Reverend Susianti Tinulele, 29,
who was shot dead in Sunday's incident.

Grief gripped the woman's home on Jl. Lembu in South Palu,
after the attack that took place when attackers burst into the
Effata Presbyterian church and opened fire at around 7 p.m.

Susianti died on the spot while four others were injured,
including one who is in a critically condition in hospital.

GKST chairman Arnold Tobondo denounced the killing and called
on all Christians to stay calm.

He also demanded that police capture the assailants and
uncover those behind the deadly attack.

Condemnation also came from Central Sulawesi's Indonesian
Ulema Council (MUI) chairman S. Saggaf Aljufrie who immediately
called for a meeting to prevent the situation from worsening.

"The shooting was an act which went against religious and
human values," he said, while appealing to Muslims and followers
of other religions not to be provoked by the incident.

Saggaf said that if the attackers were Muslims, they acted on
behalf of themselves, not Islam, adding that they must be
arrested soon to face justice under prevailing laws and in order
to pacify local residents.

Saggaf and Arnold said the police should not let the latest
shooting remain unsolved as in the case of May's murder of
Christian prosecutor Ferry Silalahi who had also been slain by
masked assailants.

He was shot dead in his car after attending evening mass in
another church in Palu.

"Our region is like no-man's-land as people can carry guns
freely and shoot innocent people," Saggaf said.

Da'i said he would deploy more intelligence officers and
detectives to help capture the attackers and unravel the case. He
did not give any numbers.

Local police said they had distributed sketches of the
attackers, who according to witnesses arrived on two Yamaha RX
King motorbikes, across the province.

Hontiles Magindali, an eye witness, said that minutes before
the incident he saw two men enter Effata church's veranda and
point a gun at a security guard named Ungke.

Ungke was later brought by the gunmen into the church, where
Christians were listening to a sermon by Susianti, Hontiles
added. They sprayed bullets through the church killing the woman
minister.

Another eye witness Tiok Noersoelistiyo said the attacker were
well-built men and had fired several shots before entering the
church.

In Jakarta, acting chief security minister Hari Sabarno said
the attackers were attempting to trigger renewed conflict. Up to
2,000 people were killed in sectarian fighting that broke out in
Poso between 2000 and 2001.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri ordered the police to
apprehend the attackers as soon as possible. "I ask the people to
remain alert because we have to maintain political stability and
security ahead of the Sept. 20 presidential election," she said.

Data from the GKST shows at least 17 shooting incidents have
hit Central Sulawesi since last October, all targeting
Christians.

In April at least one gunman sprayed bullets into a church in
Poso regency during a choir practice. Seven people, including a
four-year-old girl, were injured.

In other shootings Christian minister Yohanis Tajoja was shot
dead in front of his wife. Another man was killed and a female
university lecturer wounded in another attack.

In the worst bloodshed last year, gunmen killed 10 people in
attacks on mainly Christian villages in October.