Murdered minister laid to rest
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu
Jkt Post, 19 Oct 2006

Thousands of Christians and Muslims attended the funeral of a Christian pastor in conflict-hit Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Wednesday.
A sea of motorcycles, cars and people accompanied the body of Irianto Kongkoli, 40, to the cemetery, under the watchful eyes of hundreds of police officers.
Irianto Kongkoli, who had strongly protested the execution of three Christians last month for their role in religious violence in Poso, was gunned down Monday by masked assailants while shopping with his wife, fanning fears of renewed communal violence.
A funeral services was held at Immanuel Church for the pastor, who was the secretary-general of the South Sulawesi Christian Church. His body was then taken for burial at a Christian cemetery in Talise subdistrict.
Earlier in the day, scores of people from antiviolence groups staged a protest outside Central Sulawesi Police Headquarters, demanding the police arrest the shooters.
When meeting with the protesters, Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Badroddin Haiti asked residents to remain patient.
"Don't blame anyone. I'm the one to blame," he said. "This is not a math problem, but a shooting so it takes time. Let me handle this since I'm the one responsible."
Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Kilat said police had questioned more than 10 witnesses, including one person, identified only as Kh, who might be a possible suspect or might have links to the shooters.
"He (Kh) was questioned because we suspect the shooters ran into Kh's house in South Palu," Kilat told The Jakarta Post.
However, the police have yet to name him a suspect.
The police chief's statement was praised by the head of the Central Sulawesi Christian Church, Renaldy Damanik.
However, he urged Badroddin to evaluate the performance of the police. He said a large number of officers were deployed in the province, particularly in Palu and Poso, but they were still unable to prevent the shooting.
"What have they been doing. That should be the main question," he told the Post on Wednesday morning at Irianto's home.
He said the results of the evaluation should be made public, since there were fears the shooting and similar attacks were carried out by a trained group eager to disrupt security for their own gain.
"I'm worried ... what if they are looking for the perpetrators while those responsible turn out to be inside their own organization. It could happen, if it was done for the sake of securing a security project or upsetting Christian groups ...," he said.
A source was reported as saying Wednesday police were investigating an organization known as the Basri group, which has also been linked to the beheadings of three Christian girls in 2005, as possible suspects in the shooting.
Renaldy, however, wondered whether the police were simply looking for a scapegoat.
He said following Monday's shooting, he received a text message from a religious leader in Poso saying they were not responsible. "For God's sake, we didn't do it," Renaldy quoted the message as saying.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered security forces on Wednesday to thoroughly investigate the pastor's murder.