January 28, 2007
VP, Muslim leaders discuss Poso
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Vice President Jusuf Kalla met with Muslim leaders at his official residence in Jakarta on Saturday evening to discuss the conflict in Poso, Central Sulawesi, particularly Monday's gunbattle in which at least 13 suspected militants were killed.
Kalla said the conflict in Poso was not a religious one, but a struggle for power in the local administration, Antara news agency reported.
He said this was clear as leaders of the conflict were employees of the local administration.
"The government has tried hard to be just without favoring any party," Kalla said. "I have been there since 2001 to solve this problem."
Kalla brokered earlier peace talks between Muslim and Christian groups in Poso, in his capacity as the coordinating minister for the people's welfare. Those talks ended in the 10-point Malino peace declaration.
The second point of the declaration calls for support for all law enforcement operations, while point three says the authorities must be just in maintaining security.
Poso and surrounding areas were the scene of violence between Muslims and Christians that left some 1,000 people dead between 2000 and 2001.
Both Christians and Muslims have accused law enforcers of bias in enforcing the peace deal.
Muslim leaders invited to Kalla's residence included the deputy chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, Rozy Munir, former Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif, Prosperous Justice Party president Tifatul Sembiring and Crescent Star Party chairman and Forestry Minister MS Ka'ban, Indonesian Ulema Council chairman Ahmad Midan, State Islamic University rector Komarudin Hidayat and the former leader of Laskar Jihad, Ja'far Umar Thalib.
Also attending the meeting were People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nurwahid, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto, Home Minister M. Ma'ruf, Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin, TNI commander Air Chief Marshall Djoko Suyanto and National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara.
During a police raid Monday in Poso on suspected militants, 14 people, including a police officer, were killed.
More than 50 other suspected militants managed to flee to nearby hills and jungles.
The militants -- reportedly still armed with automatic weapons -- are wanted for their alleged involvement in bombings and other acts of violence in Poso.
On Jan. 11, police killed two other suspected militants in a raid.
The International Crisis Group warned Wednesday that regional terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah has been recruiting and training militants on Sulawesi island.
The group's Jakarta office has urged the government to explain its security approach in Poso to Muslim leaders, to prevent those killed in last week's shoot-out with police from being turned into martyrs.