[Kabar-indonesia] AFP: Another blast hits restive Poso [+Update]

[Joyo at aol.com]

[Joyo experienced tech problems for several hours; 
now resolved. + Jakarta Post's website is down]

also: Update: Police have sent reinforcements to Poso'

Another blast hits restive Indonesian town of Poso

JAKARTA, October 1 (AFP) -- Unidentified men threw
what appeared to be a home-made bomb at a police
vehicle in an Indonesian town which has been plagued
by religious violence, but it caused no casualties,
police said Sunday.

The blast was aimed at a police bomb-squad van in the
Central Sulawesi town of Poso and occurred a few hours
before midnight Saturday. It was the fourth to rock
the town in a day, police said.

"It only caused slight damage to the vehicle while
those inside the car were uninjured," First Inspector
Dian of the Poso district police said.

He declined further details.

Poso was rocked by three low-explosive blasts at
separate locations earlier Saturday. Police believed
they were aimed at stirring up unrest following the
execution of three Christians in the province last
month.

The trio, Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and
Marianus Riwu, were shot dead for inciting violence
against Muslims in religiously-divided Central
Sulawesi in 2000. The executions were strongly opposed
by Christians.

Sporadic unrest in several Christian-dominated areas
in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation,
erupted last week after the executions.

The Kompas daily said that the evening blast triggered
panic among the population, with some 2,000 people,
many armed with swords, gathering near a marketplace
where security was still tight following the earlier
blasts.

There was no reported violence and the crowd disbanded
peacefully later.

International rights activists had criticised the
fairness of the condemned Christian convicts' trials
and suggested they were merely scapegoats for the
violence that rocked Central Sulawesi, including Poso,
in 2000-01.

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'Police have sent reinforcements to Poso'

JAKARTA (Antara, Oct. 1 2006): National Police chief Gen. Sutanto said Sunday 
additional officers have been sent to Poso in Central Sulawesi after early 
Saturday's blasts in the restive town.

"We have deployed eight companies from neighboring provincial police as well 
as from the National Police Headquarters," Sutanto told reporters.

A company consists of 100 to 120 police officers.Reinforcements sent to 
conflict areas are usually taken from the elite Mobile Brigade corps.

Three homemade bombs exploded in conflict-torn Poso but no injuries or damage 
were reported.

Poso was the main battleground between Muslims and Christians from 1998 to 
2002. The conflict left about 1,000 people dead.

Communal tensions have risen since the executions last week of three 
Christians convicted of involvement in the four years of fighting.

Sutanto also asked residents not to be provoked following the blasts.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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