Blasts rock Indonesian churches

LondonTelegraph ^ | 1/2/2

[NativeNewYorker]

EXPLOSIONS rocked four churches in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province while a separate blast in Jakarta yesterday killed one person.

Edward Aritonang, deputy national police spokesman, said a grenade was thrown at or exploded in the hands of a man outside a restaurant in Jakarta a couple of hours before dawn, killing him.

Police in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu said four explosions outside churches in the city, three simultaneously as the New Year began, wounded one policeman. In the last three years, the province has seen savage clashes between Muslims and Christians.

The explosions occurred despite the presence of thousands of police and soldiers to keep New Year's Eve celebrations in check.

Some 200 people were in one of the churches when the midnight blasts hit. No worshippers were hurt.

[sarcasm]

See:

Many Muslim Indonesians say they want an Islamic state

[Frances_Marion]

I say we give them one, if this is the way they go about getting it. I say we give them the one that awaits in the hereafter...

[17th Miss Regt]

Islam is a religion of peace...

[The Grammarian]

Islam is a religion of peace

And I'm the mother of Queen Elizabeth I.

[Fulbright]

Happy New Year. A very ugly and heavily ignored story just keeps marching on.

[NativeNewYorker]

Interestingly, and sadly, when Indonesians attacked local Chinese a few years ago - destroying businesses and murdering some folks who couldn't escape - some US pundits tacitly implied it was all to the good, in helping that sorry nation come of age.