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| Southeast Asia |
| Police arrest four Pak preachers in Maluku |
| 2003-02-24 |
| Maluku Police said Monday they have arrested four Pakistanis who gave sermons at a mosque. The four were detained Saturday in Masohi on Seram island and were taken early Monday to the provincial capital of Ambon for questioning, said Maluku deputy police chief Sr. Comr. Anton Bambang Suwedi. I think we can imagine what they were preaching... Maluku has been under a state of emergency since September 2001 following Christian-Muslim battles which broke out in January 1999. The government brokered a fragile peace accord last February but sporadic violence has continued in Ambon, the main island. Just the place to spray a bit of gasoline mixed with vitriol... Bambang said the four, who were arrested after preaching at a mosque in Masohi Friday, had no permit to enter Maluku. Foreigners are required to have special permit to enter Maluku under the state of emergence. "They will be deported from Maluku immediately after their questioning is completed," Bambang said, without mentioning the names. "Go back to Peshawar and don't come back!" |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |