Thousands of security personnel guarded churches and markets yesterday after the execution of three Roman Catholic militants sparked sectarian violence in the world's most populous Muslim country, with mobs torching cars and looting stores.
Soldiers and policemen were scouring the jungles for nearly 180 inmates who escaped after Christian youths attacked a prison on Friday in the West Timor town of Atambua, sending guards fleeing into the jungle, local police chief Lieutenant Colonel Heb Behen said.
So far, only 25 inmates have been caught or have surrendered, Behen said.
PHOTO: AP
The executions of the Christian militants by firing squad for a brutal massacre at an Islamic school six years ago appeared to smooth the way for the executions of three Muslims convicted in the 2002 Bali bombings.
Some analysts said the government would be unwilling to spark public anger by carrying out death sentences against the Islamic convicts ahead of the Christians.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla appealed for calm following Friday's violence, which left at least five people injured.
He said the executions had nothing to do with religion.
Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42, were convicted of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks in May 2000 -- including a machete and gun assault on an Islamic school where scores of men were seeking shelter.
Muslim groups put the death toll at 191.
The attack on the school was one of the most brutal incidents during sectarian violence that swept central Sulawesi province from 1998 to 2002. At least 1,000 people from both faiths were killed.
However, only a handful of Muslims were ever punished for their part in the unrest, and none to more than 15 years behind bars.
Although violence in Sulawesi, which has a significant Christian presence, largely ended with the signing of a peace deal in 2002, there have since been isolated attacks, from bombings to beheadings. The town of Palu, the provincial capital and the scene of Friday's pre-dawn executions, was quiet yesterday with hundreds of policemen patrolling the main roads.
But tensions remained over a government decision to hastily bury one of the condemned men, da Silva. Family and friends dug up his body, saying they wanted to rebury him in their own coffin and in his own clothes.
The bodies of Tibo and Riwu were returned to their hometowns in Beteleme, where families and friends planned to bury them today.
On Friday, Christian mobs rampaged in the Sulawesi villages of Tentena and Lage, torching cars and police posts after learning of the executions.
On the island of Flores, the condemned men's birthplace in East Nusatenggara province, machete-wielding youths terrorized residents and tore apart the local parliament, breaking windows and smashing doors and overturning benches.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS