Government to use terror law to end Poso unrest
National News - October 27, 2006
Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government says it will use anti-terror laws to prosecute those responsible for continued violence in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
"I hope the police can unravel all the terror cases in Poso down to their roots," Vice President Jusuf Kalla said in Makassar, South Sulawesi, as quoted by Antara on Thursday.
He said the continued violence in Poso, where more than 1,000 Muslims and Christians were killed between 2000 and 2002, was not a religious conflict.
"Now there are only acts of terror," he said.
Kalla reportedly plans to visit Palu, the provincial capital of Central Sulawesi, to meet with government officials, security chiefs and religious leaders amid escalating tension in the province.
Meanwhile, police said they would not withdraw 3,000 officers stationed in the province, dismissing the demands of some residents following a skirmish involving police and Muslim residents Sunday.
The Poso Muslims Defenders Front earlier issued an ultimatum demanding the police leave Poso within 24 hours or they would launch a "social strike".
The ultimatum was made after residents in Gebang Rejo subdistrict in Poso clashed with police officers involved in a raid on a house of suspected Islamic militants. One person was killed and three others injured in the incident.
National Police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam said the officers were in the province to provide security and carried out their work in an impartial manner. "We are not taking sides. We are neutral and protecting everyone."
Tension in Poso has continued to escalate since Sunday's clash, with a mob vandalizing and burning a church Tuesday and a house rented by policemen Wednesday.
A rumor has widely circulated via cell phone messages that the police are sending four Christians generals to the province to suppress Muslims.
"Some of the generals sent there are Muslim. Not all of them are Christian," Anton said. "We regret the rumor."
Police have yet to name any suspects in the recent violence. They have said the perpetrators are "parties who want the situation in Poso to remain unstable".
Anton urged the public not to be provoked by efforts to revive religious conflict in the region.
He also said police had sent a team to investigate the fatal clash in Gebang Rejo. "If our personnel broke the rules, we will take action against them," he promised.
Anton said the authorities were now watching houses of worship and police stations to prevent any further attacks amid the rising tension in the region.