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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesian churches, embassies on Christmas terror alert |
| 2003-12-20 |
| Al-Qaida linked terrorists are feared to be targeting churches in Indonesia, the worldâs most populous Muslim nation, this Christmas, but priests and preachers are not cancelling yuletide services. âIt would be capitulating to fear,â said Rev Andrew Lake, an Australian who heads an Anglican congregation in Jakarta. âWorshipping and serving God are still the highest priority.â Three years ago, bombs exploded at 11 churches across Indonesia on Christmas Eve, killing 19 people and injuring around 100. The attacks have since been blamed on the al-Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. The US Embassy is warning Americans in Indonesia that the risk of terror attacks over Christmas and New Year is âparticularly high.â Places of worship popular with expatriates, shopping centres and hotels are mentioned as possible targets. The Australian Embassy is also telling its citizens to be on alert. âWe are very vigilant,â said Lake, who has lived in Jakarta for seven years. âThere is a climate of anxiety.â Lake said that some worshippers might skip Christmas services at the All Saints Anglican Church in the heart of Jakarta because of the terror fears. âI accept that. I donât want them to feel guilty,â he said. Christians make up less than 10 percent of Indonesiaâs 210 million people. Around 85 percent are Muslims and there are Buddhist and Hindu minorities. Jemaah Islamiyah is believed to still pose a threat despite the arrests of dozens of suspected operatives over the last year, including al-Qaidaâs alleged leader in Asia, Indonesian cleric Hambali. Abu Bakar Bashir, whom foreign governments claim is the groupâs spiritual leader, said today that Osama bin Laden and three militants sentenced to death for last yearâs Bali bombings were not terrorists but âsoldiers in Allahâs army.â He made the comments to his followers in prison, where he is serving a three year sentence for immigration violations. âThe enemies of Islam are the Jews who are led by America and who always slander Muslims as terrorists,â he said. Indonesiaâs constitution is secular and relations among the faiths are generally good across the country. However, Muslim militants have increasingly been targeting Christians, many of whom come from the countryâs ethnic Chinese minority. Christian groups have recorded dozens of attacks on churches in recent years, and they complain the perpetrators are rarely caught. Muslims often complain of aggressive missionary activity by Christians and the building of churches without permits. Police will deploy some 140,000 personnel over the holiday. Worshippers will have to pass through metal detectors at most churches and officers will search churches before Christmas services, said National Police Chief Dai Bachtiar. âThe focus is on the possibility of terror attacks,â he said. Still, not all Christians are worried. âIâm taking these warnings in stride,â said Maria Priyanti, a Roman Catholic. âIt seems to me that terrorism is by its very nature unpredictable. I will be going to church as normal.â Jemaah Islamiyah is also suspected in the recent killings of 12 Christians on Sulawesi island, which in 2000 was wracked by fighting between Muslims and Christians. Recently, unidentified people have been distributing leaflets in the province calling for attacks against Christians, said Alex Patambo, the secretary of the regionâs church crisis centre. He said private security had been hired at churches in the city of Tentenna, and worshippers would only be allowed to bring bibles into churches. âThere is a state of alert but that does not mean we will not celebrate Christmas,â he said from the province, 1,000 miles east of Jakarta. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |