Posted on 01/03/2002 9:45:21 AM PST by Walkin Man
Blast kills reveler in Jakarta, churches bombed on Sulawesi island
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Dec. 31 — A New Year's reveler was killed in a blast in Jakarta early Tuesday, and a series of explosions at churches on Sulawesi island injured three people, police said.
In the capital, a man lost his leg when a hand grenade exploded outside a shopping mall just before dawn, police said. He later died in the hospital, medical officials said. There was no word on a motive for the blast.
Police Chief Brig. Gen. Andi Zainal Ishak said the blasts were designed to cause chaos in the province, where there has been sporadic fighting between Muslims and Christians for the past three years.
Three of the explosions in the central Sulawesi provincial capital, Palu, took place just before midnight as thousands of people celebrated on the streets. One person was injured. The blasts shattered windows at two churches.
A fourth explosion Tuesday morning at the town's Pantekosta church seriously injured two policemen who were examining the device, witnesses said.
State news agency Antara quoted witnesses as saying men on motorbikes hurled explosive devices at the churches. Local church leaders urged police to quickly catch the perpetrators and called for calm.
''I hope the people of Palu and surrounding districts can live in peace and harmony,'' said S. Pelima, a member of the Central Sulawesi Synod.
Last month, Christians and Muslims on the island about 1,000 miles northeast of Jakarta agreed to a government-sponsored peace deal to end the conflict that has claimed about 1,000 lives.
The bombings occurred despite tight security measures throughout Indonesia. A year ago, Christmas church bombings in Jakarta and nine other cities killed 19 people.
Only five percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Christian. Eighty-five percent are Muslim.
In a different sort of religious conflict, officials on the conflict-wracked province of Aceh on Tuesday introduced Islamic sharia law, a move they hope will dampen calls for separatism in the staunchly Muslim region.
However, rebels and rights activists dismissed the new policy as an effort by the government to distract from human rights abuses allegedly committed by the Indonesian military in the region. There was also confusion about what the new legal code would mean in practice. Muslim scholars disagree on what sharia encompasses and how it should be enforced.
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