[Kabar-indonesia] Suspected Muslim militant admits beheading Christian girls

[Joyo2]

also: Indonesian man arrested over terror in restive Poso

Suspected Muslim militant admits beheading Christian girls
in Indonesia

JAKARTA, November 15 (AP) - A suspected Islamic militant
told judges Wednesday he took part in the beheadings of
three Christian girls on an Indonesian island wracked by
sectarian violence because he wanted to avenge the deaths of
Muslims.

Hasanuddin told the Central Jakarta District Court he and
two other men were "involved" in the October 2005 attack on
the girls as they walked to school on Sulawesi island, the
scene of interfaith battles that left at least 1,000 people
dead from 1998 to 2002.

"I was indeed involved in the beheadings," Hasanuddin, who
like many Indonesians goes by only one name, told the court.
"But we did it because authorities did nothing against
massacres of Muslims."

Hasanuddin and the two others were charged under anti-
terrorism laws, and could face the death penalty if found
guilty.

Prosecutors said Hasanuddin was the ringleader of the attack
and he bought machetes and plastic bags to put the girls'
heads in.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, with
90 percent of its 220 million people professing the faith.
But Central Sulawesi has a roughly equal number of Muslim
and Christians.

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Indonesian man arrested over terror in restive Poso

PALU, Indonesia, November 15 (AFP) -- Indonesia's anti-
terror detectives arrested a man on suspicion of involvement
in a series of anti-Christian attacks in religiously-divided
Poso district, police said Wednesday.

Andi Illau, one of 29 names on a list of men wanted by the
police over suspected involvement in attacks against non-
Muslims in Central Sulawesi province, was arrested during a
raid in Poso Pesisir area Tuesday, said Central Sulawesi
province police spokesman Muhammad Kilat.

Illau would face charges for the alleged murder of a
Christian man earlier this year, Kilat told reporters.

The suspect was flown in to the provincial capital, Palu,
for questioning, the spokesman added.

Police had said the 29 men were believed to belong to two
groups -- Tanah Runtuh and Kayamanya -- named from the areas
they came from. The names of those wanted indicated they
were Muslims.
The Tanah Runtuh group was accused of involvement in several
violent incidents in Poso since 2001, including the 2005
beheading murders of three Christian school students and
several bombings of markets and churches.

Police said the gang was also involved in the shooting of a
Christian minister in Palu last month.

The second group was accused of robbery and inciting mob
violence by raising religious issues and spreading hatred
against the police.

Poso and its surrounding district became a focal point of
communal violence between Muslims and Christians which
claimed about 1,000 lives in 2000-2001, and sporadic unrest
has continued since then.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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