Posted on 12/07/2001 7:39:35 AM PST by Walkin Man
Friday December 7 8:19 AM ET
By DESSIANING SRI ARYANTI, Associated Press Writer
SANGGINRA, Indonesia (AP) - Thousands of Christians were hiding in jungle-clad mountains on Indonesia's Sulawesi island Friday after their villages were attacked and razed by Muslim militias.
Hundreds of homes were destroyed last month in the latest round of sectarian violence in the region - which has left about 1,000 people dead on both sides in the past two years.
In November, Muslim militants drove away security forces in the area then attacked at least three Christian villages in central Sulawesi, local residents said.
There were conflicting reports about the number of deaths in those attacks. Police could confirm only eight dead, but villagers said more were missing.
In one village, Sangginra, the burned-out ruins of hundreds of houses and a church are all that is left of the once-bustling market community. A few haggard-looking villagers returned to Sangginra Friday and searched through the remains of their homes.
``Many people cannot find their wives, husbands or children,'' said local priest Marson Movanti. ``We fled to the mountains and jungle when we heard bombs exploding and rifle fire.''
He said some of the attackers were members of a Muslim militia, Laskar Jihad, which is responsible for much of the religious fighting in the nearby Maluku islands. About 9,000 people have been killed in that conflict in the past three years.
Laskar Jihad leaders in the nearby town of Poso refused to comment on the allegations.
Movanti said many of the attackers were armed with automatic rifles.
Despite government assurances that the worst of the bloodshed was over, international aid agencies have evacuated their staff from the area and human rights activists say it is unlikely that the fighting will end.
On Thursday, security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono toured the region, about 1,000 miles northeast of Jakarta, and assured residents that the situation was under control. About 2,000 police and soldiers have been dispatched to the area.
Although Muslim gangs appear to be responsible for the latest outbreak of fighting, Christian militias have also killed hundreds of Muslims and forced thousands of others to flee their homes. In the bloodiest attack so far, about 100 Muslim villagers were massacred in May last year.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri has not publicly commented on the violence but is considering imposing a state of emergency in the region.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation. Nearly 85 percent of its 203 million people are Muslim. The rest are Christian, Hindu or Buddhist.
Meanwhile, in Aceh, another restive Indonesian province, at least five people including two rebels were killed Friday in a gunbattle with government troops, said Lt. Firdaus Komarno, a local military spokesman.
Rebels in the region have been fighting for independence of their gas- and oil-rich province since 1975. More than 6,000 people have been killed, including about 1,300 this years alone.
HA! Good eye VRWC_minion! So here in this one news story we have two widespread lies exposed.
1. The news media is unbiased.
2. Islam is a peaceful religion.
This book you mentioned does sound like a good read, though.
Whatever!
C'mon now. The average Moslem doesn't go around harassing infidels. Let's bring a little reality to this discussion.
you mean to tell me we cant give them any air support if it were up to me id be calling in f-18's and ac-130's in to put the jihad punks down
Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown
Another book worth reading, this one on the epidemic of persecution of Christian minorities across the world....so where's the minority loving media on this topic?
If you define average in mathematical terms, and look outside of suburbia - throughout Islam historically and geographically - you're dead wrong. Just take a look at the Islamic states around the globe, and you'll find that they are the most intolerant places on earth. Christian worship, public prayer, churches, and even carrying a Bible are forbidden.
BTW, maybe patria one, and various libertarians, can come to this thread to either deny or defend the moslem persecution and murder of Christians.
I'm not sure this article is the best vehicle for another orgy of Muslim bashing. Just a thought.
They don't have to. Enough of the Islamic population does and the rest simply provide support for them.
These aren't terrorists. They're mercenaries, pure and simple. They're hired by islamic interests, they're paid by islamic interests, they're trained by islamic interests, they're equipped by islamic interests and they're given sanctuary by islamic interests.
If you look at all of the major hotspots in the world, Islam is involved with at least 80% of them. You've heard the names: Kashmir, Chechnya, East Timor, Bengladesh, Kossovo, Java, Algeria.
Nobody's making the case that EVERY SINGLE moslem is out killing, that's your cockeyed logic. ENOUGH of them are that eventually, the world is going to have to take steps, FIRMLY.
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