Religious Liberty Prayer List – No. 146 – Wed 05 Dec 2001

INDONESIA: LASKAR JIHAD RAVAGE SULAWESI

At least 1,000 people have been killed in sectarian strife in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, since religious violence erupted in 1998. The deployment of security forces led to the situation being relatively calm for most of this year. However, after their numbers were reduced, there were several minor skirmishes between Christians and Muslims in Poso in early November. These were followed by the bombing of the largest Christian church in the area and a massive influx of 7,000 Laskar Jihad forces committed to holy war and threatening a massacre of chilling proportions.

In the past few days, thousands of homes, schools and churches in Sulawesi have been destroyed as jihad militia equipped with machine guns, rocket launchers and bulldozers have razed and burned Christian villages, sending families fleeing for their lives. An estimated 50,000 refugees from these Sulawesi villages are now in the village of Tentena, surrounded by Laskar Jihad forces preparing to slaughter them in the cause of jihad. The situation in Indonesia is complex as not all those described as Christians are believers. Whilst the invading Laskar Jihad force has mainly instigated the present crisis, there are also ‘Christian’ militias who readily perpetuate the violence.

The Laskar Jihad’s website is advancing local rumours of Muslims being forcibly converted, raped, sadistically tortured, kidnapped for use as sex-slaves, etc., by ‘Christians’ and that attacks on Muslims in Poso ‘are being organised by Christian priests’. These rumours not only grossly slander the true Christian community but are also highly inflammatory and dangerous as they whip up extreme levels of hatred and hostility, ensuring that revenge attacks and reprisals will be directed against Christian villages, churches, priests and leaders.

So far, a paltry 500 soldiers have been deployed to the region to try and establish order, although the government is considering sending in a further 2,600 troops and declaring a state of emergency. The government’s National Human Rights Commission spokesman, Asmara Nababan, described the situation as ‘critical’ and said he could not understand why the ‘police and the military seemed unable to stop the conflict’. Many believe that military and others loyal to the Suharto regime have vested political interests in fuelling the conflict to destabilise the nation.

Ja’far Umar Thalib, head of the Laskar Jihad, has publicly boasted of his relationship with the Indonesian military, even claiming in April 2000 to having a hotline to Admiral Widodo. President Megawati Sukarnoputri has been reluctant to rein in Islamic militants because she owes her political survival to Muslim parties who have backed and now control her.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR:

* significant international pressure on the Indonesian government, forcing it to take decisive action to disarm and remove the invading Laskar Jihad and arrest all local provocateurs and instigators of violence.

* police and security personnel to be non-partisan, intent only on what they are supposed to be doing: establishing law and order.

* all those trapped in Tentena and other Christian villages, facing impending slaughter at the hands of the Laskar Jihad; may they be protected and rescued through God’s intervention. ‘From the Lord comes deliverance.’ Psalm 3:8

* Christian believers targeted due to false rumours or simply because of their faith, that peace will override fear in their hearts, that God will protect and deliver them and that their witness will not be in vain.

* all Christian leaders in Central Sulawesi (and throughout Indonesia) to have strength, courage, wisdom and grace on a supernatural scale at this time when spiritual and strategic leadership of the people is crucial.

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE: ———————————————————— LASKAR JIHAD RAVAGE SULAWESI, INDONESIA

The situation on Sulawesi island is ‘critical’, according to the Indonesian Government’s National Human Rights Commission spokesman, Asmara Nababan. The paltry police and security force present can in no way quell the violence or control the 7,000-strong invading Laskar Jihad. The village of Tentena is flooded from surrounding Christian villages with fleeing refugees who are now encircled by militants intent on massacring them in the cause of jihad. The conflict is fuelled by rumours and the violent militias of both sides. The Indonesian government has failed to rein in the swelling numbers of Islamic militants because Megawati Sukarnoputri owes her political survival to the Muslim parties who have backed and now control her. The military and other Suharto loyalists also have political interests in provoking conflict rather than containing it. Please pray for the Christian believers amidst this strife.

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The WEF 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 WEF RLC and convenor of the Australian EA RLC. Elizabeth Kendal researched and compiled this message.

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