Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin – No. 228 – Wed 16 Jul 2003

—————————– INDONESIA: BOMBS FOR CHURCHES plus Update on Sudan Peace Talks —————————–

Between 4-12 July, Indonesian police arrested nine suspected Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militants: four men in Jakarta, together with four in Semarang and one in Magelang (both Central Java towns). The militants arrested in Jakarta and Semarang were part of an active JI cell. At least four of its members have eluded capture.

Despite almost 200 arrests, JI remains a serious threat with some 3000 of its Afghanistan-trained members still at large. JI’s capabilities are intact and its funding channels are flowing freely. Dozens of JI operatives have allegedly been trained as suicide bombers. Training camps for jihadis operate throughout the SE Asian region and are visited regularly by militants from the Middle East.

Indonesian authorities are also concerned about the escape from a Philippines prison of the Indonesian high-ranking JI commander, Fathurrohman al-Ghozi, who served as a bomb-maker for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in South Philippines before his arrest in January 2002. Before dawn on Monday 14 July, al-Ghozi, along with two Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, escaped from the heavily guarded detention centre in the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group building, which is inside the high-walled National Police HQ in suburban Manila. The Philippine Police, (including the Director-General) waited 10 hours before raising any alarm. The police are now under investigation. Al-Ghozi, a bomb- making expert, has been a major link between SE Asian militants and al-Qaeda.

The police raid in Semarang on 9 July also seized a huge cache of ammunition along with advanced weaponry. Bomb-making supplies captured included 1200 detonators, 900kg of potassium chlorate (as used in Bali), 160kg of TNT, 65 high explosive PETN detonators, timers and batteries. Found amongst maps and documents were schedules for Sunday services at the Tiberias Indonesia Church and the Indonesian Bethel Church in Jakarta, raising fears that JI is again planning attacks on Indonesia’s Christian minority. (JI is responsible for the Christmas Eve church bombings across Indonesia in 2001 that killed 19 people and injured many others.) JI is suspected to have moved two other shipments of explosives into Jakarta which have not yet been found.

PRAISE AND THANK GOD FOR:

* uncovering the terror cell in Jakarta and the militants’ bomb making factory and weapons cache in Semarang, Central Java, frustrating the plans of wicked people who intended to target crowded churches in Jakarta with major explosions that would have caused great destruction and loss of life. Praise God for his mercy.

* continue to ‘frustrate the plans of the wicked’ (Ps 146:9) and protect church buildings, Christian pastors, workers and other believers from the attacks of those who would kill and destroy, thinking they are offering a service to their god. (John 16:2) ‘Do not let their evil schemes succeed, O God.’ Ps 140:8

* expose those with wicked intentions and bring them to justice, uncover secret weapons caches and munitions planned for use against his children, and interfere with the delivery of weapons intended for jihad and war against Christians. (This is a point for our persistent prayer.)

‘Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight’ (Hebrews 4:13). ‘He floods the darkness with light’ (Job 12:22).

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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE: ———————————————————— BOMBS FOR CHURCHES IN INDONESIA

Indonesian police recently arrested nine suspected Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militants: four men in Jakarta and five in Central Java. In Semarang, Central Java, the police also found a massive cache of bomb-making equipment. Sunday service schedules for two churches in Jakarta were amongst the documents, maps, explosives and detonators. Although almost 200 JI operatives have been arrested, some 3000 fully-trained JI members are still at large. This now includes master bomb-maker Fathurrohman al-Ghozi, who escaped from prison in the Philippines on 14 July. Police are searching for two further JI shipments of explosives they believe went to Jakarta. It is clearly JI’s intention to again include crowded Christian churches in their terror targets. Pray for God’s protection on the Christians of Indonesia.

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UPDATE FROM RLP 227 – SUDAN’S PEACE TALKS

Sudan’s peace talks have failed and the Government of Sudan (GoS) looks both defiant and aggressive. There are plans to recommence talks on 23 July, but things are not looking positive. Please continue to pray for God’s radical intervention in the hearts of the GoS, for the sake of his suffering children. Only God can direct their hard hearts towards peace – pray for that miracle.

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The WEA Religious Liberty Commission sponsors this RL Prayer List to help individuals and groups pray specifically and regularly for religious liberty issues, and in particular to uphold the Church where it is suffering persecution.

RL Prayer is moderated by Ron Clough, a commissioner of the WEA RLC and convenor of the Australian EA RLC. Elizabeth Kendal researched and compiled this message.