MALUKU, INDONESIA (ANS), May 1, 2002 — At least a dozen Christians have been brutally murdered and several others seriously injured on the Indonesian island of Ambon during a deadly pre-dawn attack on the village of Soya on Sunday, April 28th.
"The attack on the Protestant Christian village of Soya near Ambon was carried out by armed attackers around 4 am Sunday morning. Black-clad Muslims' 'went from house to house, while proclaiming Allah's Greatness, murdering anybody they could lay hands on, not sparing women and children, including a nine month old baby that was killed by bullets,' according to the Crisis Diocese of Amboina.
Six of the victims were stabbed or shot while another six were burned to death. The unidentified attackers, believed to be members of the radical Laskar Jihad Islamic group, also burned down a Protestant church and dozens of Christians' homes before fleeing the scene," said a report by International Christian Concern (ICC).
ICC states that on April 24, just days before this deadly attack, Laskar Jihad leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, arrived in Ambon and encouraged Muslims there to make war on the Christians.
"The pretext of this attack was the raising of the RMS flag in Ambon. The RMS, a Christian separatist group with a little over 100 members, celebrated its 52nd anniversary on April 25 by flying flags and balloons bearing the RMS colors in various neighborhoods of Ambon. However, RMS leader Alex Manuputty had been arrested almost a week earlier, on April 17.
Mr. Manuputty urged his supporters to 'Show yourselves as brothers with high moral attitude and do not do anything that leads to anarchy, do not do anything against the law.' This stands in stark contrast to Thalib's directive, given before the RMS anniversary, to attack the Christians," ICC said.
ICC said the Laskar Jihad group has repeatedly denounced the Malino agreement of February 12, 2002, which outlined terms of peace and reconciliation between Christians and Muslims in war-torn Maluku, and made it clear that they would oppose it by all means possible. 9000 people have died in three years of fighting.
According to a story filed from Jakarta, Indonesia, by Michael Casey of the Associated Press (AP) witnesses said the attackers set 30 homes and a Protestant church on fire, and went from house to house, shooting into those that were occupied. Six Christians, including the baby, were stabbed to death and six others were killed in fires. Two more were believed to be shot to death.
" It may be the end of the peace deal,'' said Christian pastor Cornelius Bohm in Ambon. "There is no doubt that it was Laskar Jihad'' behind Sunday's attack in Ambon. Laskar Jihad share Osama bin Laden's anti-Western stance but its commander, Jafar Umar Thalib, has denied any links to international terror. The group could not be reached for comment, reported Casey.
Source: Michael Ireland, ASSIST News Service
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