Poso receives bomb scare; police continue manhunt
Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Poso
Nov 10, 2006

A suspicious package was found in Kawua subdistrict in conflict-torn Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Thursday morning, sparking a bomb scare.
Resident Yusup Tare'e saw a package he thought resembled a bomb at a makeshift market in front of the Puncak Kawua restaurant. He then reported it to the police.
Personnel from the bomb squad cordoned off the area. When they opened the package, however, they only found a car air-conditioning compressor connected to some wires.
The incident did not cause a panic and activities in the area continued as usual after the police left. The Puncak Kawua restaurant reopened and was filled with customers.
The police did not go into detail on the hoax.
"It was only the act of irresponsible people who wished to provoke the improving situation here," said Poso police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rudy Sufahriyadi.
Meanwhile, the situation in Poso on Thursday was normal. People carried out their daily activities, and the Poso central market was full of shoppers.
Traffic in the city was smooth, but everyone entering the town had to go through rigorous searches at a police post set up in the Poso Pesisir area.
Passengers had to produce their identity cards and their bags were searched by security personnel.
The police manhunt for militants believed to have been involved in a series of violent attacks in the area was continuing Thursday. Police have issued arrest warrants and given them to the families of the suspects.
However, the police have faced resistance from the families. They insist their relatives were not involved in the violence in Poso, including the bomb blast at Tentena market, the robbery at the Poso regency administration building or the beheadings of three Christian girls.
Some of the family members have filed a written protest with the police. Others have threatened to die with their children if police attempted to arrest them.
A relative of one of the suspects, Dede Lasahido, said not all of those on the wanted list were responsible for the violence because some were not in Poso when the incidents occurred.
Despite that, Lasahido said he respected police efforts to uphold the law, but stated that officers should be impartial.
"Why are only Muslims on the wanted list, while the police have stopped investigating the massacre in Buyung Katedo hamlet. What's going on here?" asked Lasahido.
Buyung Katedo hamlet is located in Poso and is mostly inhabited by Muslim transmigrants from Sinjai, South Sulawesi. In 2001, a group of people killed residents there, including a pregnant woman.
"But where are the perpetrators? Why wasn't the case investigated and the suspects included on the wanted list?" asked Lasahido.