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Five held over beheading of Indonesia schoolgirls
 Indonesian officers have detained five people, including a former soldier, over the beheading last month of three teenage Christian girls in the volatile eastern region of Poso, security officials said on Wednesday. Andi Mallarangeng, a spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said the attacks, as well as a separate incident on Tuesday evening when unidentified gunmen shot and critically wounded two schoolgirls, were an attempt to reignite religious violence in the area. All but one of the victims have been Christian.The beheadings, which occurred a few days before a major Muslim holiday, triggered an outcry across Indonesia as well as in Poso, a regency on Sulawesi island where sectarian fighting raged from 1998 to 2001. "The role of these five people is still being investigated by police officers," said deputy national police spokesman Soenarko Artanto, adding no suspect had been named in the case. He refused to clarify whether the army was holding the five. The military have claimed credit for capturing four of them. "Four people have been captured by members of battalion 714 and they will be handed over to the police. Three of them are civilians while another is a former military policeman," said Maj. Gen. Kohirin Suganda, the Indonesian military's chief spokesman, referring to the Poso-based infantry unit. Suganda said the capture took place a few days ago. President Susilo was quoted by Andi as urging residents not to engage in revenge attacks and ordering security forces to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Posted by: Fred 2005-11-10 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=134560 |