Xmas peaceful under tight security

Xmas peaceful under tight security

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The religious violence hotspots of Poso in Central Sulawesi and
Ambon in Maluku remained calm as Christmas was celebrated
peacefully across Indonesia on Monday and Tuesday.

As of late last night, there had been no reports of unrest,
despite fears of a repeat of last year's wave of bomb attacks on
churches that killed 19 people and injured scores more throughout
the country on Christmas Eve, 2000.

Security personnel stood guard at churches throughout the
celebrations.

Except for a small explosion in Cikoko, South Jakarta on
Monday morning, the capital was largely calm, with thousands of
Christians flocking to churches to attend Christmas services.

At Jakarta's Cathedral, one of the churches that was bombed
last year, churchgoers were subjected to stringent security
checks before they could enter the compound. Bomb squads stood at
the ready near the colonial-era building.

The same security measures were in force at all churches in
the capital as most Christians were still traumatized by last
year's bombings.

"Jakarta is safe. Police and military forces and Muslim
organizations helped maintain the security," Jakarta Police Chief
Makbul Padmanagara said on Tuesday.

However, he asked people to stay alert for bombs like the one
that exploded in Cikoko, South Jakarta on Monday morning. No
injuries were reported from the blast.

In Poso, which has been gripped by religious conflicts,
Christmas celebrations, centered at Tentena district, went
smoothly with most Christians attending the midnight service and
the Tuesday morning celebrations.

A policeman in Poso told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that
Central Sulawesi Police Chief Brig. Gen. Zainal Abidin Ishak
spent Christmas eve in the strife-torn area to directly supervise
the security situation.

In Ambon, which had been plagued by religious conflict since
January 1999, Christmas was celebrated in a modest and peaceful
way. Some Christians, however, had to celebrate Christmas in
refugee camps.

Firecrackers boomed through the night in Ambon, a noisy
reminder for some of the violence that has taken hold in the
city.

In Yogyakarta, police authorities urged Muslims not to attend
a planned joint Christmas celebration involving people from all
religions at Saint Antonius Church to stave off anger from
religious hardliners there.

Yogyakarta Police Chief Sr. Comr. Ibnu Sudjak came to the
church just one hour before the celebration was due to start and
asked all Muslims to leave the venue saying that certain hardline
groups threatened to start rioting in the area if the Muslims
attended the planned Christmas celebrations.

The muslims heeded to police's advice and left. The service
continued.

In other big cities like Medan in North Sumatra, Bandung in
West Java and Surabaya in East Java, which were also hit by bomb
attacks last Christmas, Christians celebrated Christmas
peacefully. In Medan, North Sumatra security officers guarded
churches and no incidents were reported.

Christmas in Bandung also passed without disturbance as
thousands of Christians joined Christmas services under heavy
security.

Police in Pekanbaru, Riau conducted checks on vehicles Monday
as part of security measures ahead of Christmas. Passengers had
their identification cards checked while the cars were searched
for weapons, explosives and other harmful materials.