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Muslim volunteers plan to guard Indonesian churches on Christmas
Volunteers from Indonesia's largest Islamic organization will guard churches across the world's most populous Muslim nation on Christmas amid fears of terrorist attacks on those places, the group said on Friday.Jakarta police have said they would boost security in the capital ahead of Christmas to avoid a repeat of 2000 Christmas Eve bombings on churches in several Indonesian cities, including in the country's capital. A youth wing affiliated with Indonesia's largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama, some 40 million strong, told Reuters that members would guard churches for the coming Christmas festivities and it had persuaded youths from other religions to join theproject. "We have an annual program to set up posts to secureChristmas. For this year, I have contacted groups from other religions like the Hindus and Buddhists and they have responded positively," said Tatang Hidayat, national coordinator of NU's Banser group, known for its military-like uniform. Hidayat said the volunteers would closely collaborate with existing police operations and the churches' own security. Around 17,000 policemen are expected to safeguard Christmas celebrations in Jakarta alone. Although Indonesia has been relatively calm in recent weeks, many security analysts say threats of militant attacks still run high because police have yet to catch one of the alleged masterminds of previous bombings, Malaysian-born Noordin M. Top. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-12-09 |
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