APSN Banner

Catholic buildings torched in Sulawesi

Source
Agence France Presse - April 20, 1999

Jakarta – A mob attacked a Roman Catholic complex in the predominantly Moslem province of South Sulawesi, throwing fuel bombs that burned several buildings just hours after a blast at a main mosque in Jakarta, police said Tuesday.

"The fuel bombs were thrown at around 9pm yesterday (Monday)," Captain Siswo of the South Sulawesi Police said from Ujung Pandang, the provincial capital.

An office of a Catholic foundation, a dormitory, a pastor's residence and a youth meeting hall in Kare, on the outskirts of Ujung Pandang, had all been burned, he added.

It was the first attack on a Christian complex since a blast rocked Jakarta's main Istiqlal mosque on Monday afternoon. The church in the same complex was burned down during attacks by Moslems there earlier this year.

"According to reports four people have already been arrested in relation to the incident," Siswo said, declining to elaborate.

In Ujung Pandang, a woman who answered the telephone at the main cathedral said several soldiers and police had been dispatched to guard the building since early Tuesday.

In Jakarta, a company of police were also on standby at the main cathedral just across from the Istiqlal, and troops were guarding at least one other church, witnesses said.

Indonesia is the world's largest Moslem nation with over 90 percent of its some 202 million people following Islam.

Indonesian official and public leaders, both Moslem and Christian, have issued repeated calls for calm following the Istiqlal blast and urged people not to fall prey to incitments to violence.

Country