NU wants Poso secured before key meeting
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, 5 Nov 2006

Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), called on the authorities to expel newcomers believed to be instigating fresh violence in Poso, Central Sulawesi, ahead of a planned reconciliation meeting among the people.
Hasyim presented his proposal during a meeting Saturday with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the latter's residence in Central Jakarta.
"It turns out that those who instigated violence (in Poso) were people coming from other areas. Those who are proven (to be involved in violence) must be relocated; don't consider their religion," Hasyim said.
He explained that Muslim and Christian leaders in Poso were expected to meet early in December to discuss ways to end the prolonged bloody conflict.
"Before that (meeting), the security situation must be strengthened," he was quoted by detik.com news portal as saying.
After some time of peace, a new series of murders and violence hit Poso following the Sept. 22 execution of three Christians charged with masterminding a massacre in a Muslim village in 2000.
The day after the execution, two Muslims were kidnapped and murdered. Then, a Christian minister was shot dead while he was shopping with his wife in Palu on Oct. 16. And on Oct. 22, police shot and killed a Muslim man and a toddler during crossfire in a raid on a suspected terrorist hideout.
Police have arrested more than a dozen Muslims belonging to militant groups in the region suspected of instigating violence, and are still hunting down a number of others.
Muslims are dissatisfied with the police and have demanded that they be withdrawn from Poso. The government responded by sending in troops to reinforce security.
Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, Catholic and Buddhist leaders met with leaders of Islamic hard-line group Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI) to discuss efforts to prevent further conflicts among different faiths, including those in Poso.
Attending the meeting were Catholic figure and former finance minister Frans Seda, Catholic intellectual Chris Siner Key Timu and Buddhist leader Hartono Yusuf.
MMI leaders at the meeting included Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who was jailed for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings, chairman Irfan S Awas, secretary-general Sobbarin Syakur and spokesman Fauzan al Anshari.
The meeting produced a joint communique, with each party committing to maintaining peace and security, upholding truth and justice and pursuing prosperity for the people.
"We also agree that the differences among us will not be exploited and manipulated by provocateurs who pit followers of different religions against one another for their own political gains," Fuazan said.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Frans Seda said that the meeting aimed to reduce conflicts between religious groups, including those in Poso.
"We also discussed the Muslims' aspiration to adopt sharia. Pak Ba'asyir said that Muslims would not force their will against non-Muslims with regards to sharia," Seda said.
It is not clear, however, why Seda and other Catholic and Buddhist leaders sought a meeting with Ba'asyir and MMI leaders.
During the meeting MMI leaders also expressed their opposition to the planned visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to Indonesia next month.
Bush is scheduled to visit Indonesia after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Vietnam on Nov. 18. This will be his second trip to Indonesia after he met President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Muslim leaders in Bali in 2003.
In Jakarta, a group of Muslims hard-liners, led by Hizbut Tahrir and the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), staged a protest outside the U.S. Embassy to protest the visit. The rally ended peacefully.
Tarko Sudiarno contributed to this report from Yogyakarta