Three more arrested over Poso killings

Three more arrested over Poso killings

POSO, Central Sulawesi (JP): Three more people have been
arrested for their roles in the recent sectarian fighting in
Poso, bringing the total suspects detained to six.

Poso Police chief Supt. Djasman Baso Opu told The Jakarta Post
here on Tuesday that Hery, 52, Alexius, 19, and Rahman, 46, were
being interrogated.

"We are still hunting eight more people believed to have been
involved in the carnage."

The three suspects arrested earlier are Fabianus Tibo, 57,
Dominggus Soares, 37, and Marinus Riwu, 43.

Djasman said that many people had witnessed the six men
murdering people.

"Most of the witnesses are women who saw their husbands being
killed in front of them. We have at least 20 witnesses," he said.

Djasman did not reveal the events leading up to their arrest
nor when it happened.

He said police had identified eight further suspects. "Some of
them are former military and police officers. We have been
chasing them. They have been moving from one place to another."

Hery, one of those currently being questioned by the police,
told the Post in Poso that he objected to being called a
"butcher".

"I did take a total of 173 women and children as hostages. I
took them to the village of Tambaro, and they stayed there for
four days. I don't know what happened to them at the village hall
after that."

He said he saw Tibo and Dominggus at the scene.

"It was the commanders, Tibo and Dominggus, who gave me the
orders (to take the women and children), but I was not involved
in the killing."

Previously, Tibo, Dominggus and Marinus said that a general,
identified only by his initial H, was the man behind the
killings. They later said they did not mean a military general.

"There were no military or police generals supporting them.
What they meant by "the general" was their boss," he said.

Djasman said that several witnesses had confirmed that Tambaro
village hall was used as a murder venue, and that dead bodies
from it were dumped in a ravine some 20 kilometers away.

Corpses clogged up Poso river, and the smell around the ravine
is still unpleasant.

Djasman said what happened in Poso was worse than the bloody
aftermath of the attempted coup by the Indonesian Communist Party
(PKI) in 1965.

"Women were raped and killed. Children were also targeted. It
was inhumane," said Djasman.

Poso was first hit by sectarian violence last year. The latest
bloodletting took place on May 23 when Christians and Muslims
clashed leaving some 300 people dead and thousands of houses
destroyed.

The government and the military have tried to heal the wounds.
Two months ago the Wirabuana Military Command deployed some 1,000
troops in a peace mission called Cinta Damai.

And Sulawesi governors met to sign a peace accord, and pledged
to help the Central Sulawesi administration rebuild the riot-hit
areas.

Commander of the Cinta Damai mission, First Inspector
Agussalim said that his men found a large number of dead bodies
in a mass grave when his men entered Poso in July. "We expect to
find more bodies," he said. (27/sur)