Christians were killed by Muslims angry over attempts to arrest those responsible for previous anti-Christian in Poso, Central Sulawesi, reports said.
"Four more Christians, including the treasurer of the prominent Central Sulawesi Christian Church (GKST), have been killed in the Poso area," apparently in recent days, claimed The Barnabus Fund, which supports persecuted Christians.
"On Sunday November 16 the bodies of Mr Tadjodja, the treasurer, and his nephew were found in their car between two Muslim villages near Poso." The organization said that his car had been broken and that "Mr. Tadjodja had been cudgeled with a heavy blunt instrument to such an extent that his head had been crushed and his face was difficult to identify."
MACHETE USED
His nephew had been attacked "with a machete, or similar weapon, and his neck had been almost completely severed." "Mr Tadjodja, 58, had been sent by the church’s synod to preach" in one of five villages hit in Oct. 12 by Muslim violence in which at least 11 Christians died within two days, The Barnabas Fund explained.
In addition another member of GKST, identified only as Dennis, was "beaten to death", in recent days said The Barnabus Fund, after he traveled through Poso on the way to the town of Palu.
"An irate Muslim mob forced him to come to a halt and then dragged him from his motorbike….His body was found near the market area in Poso along with the body of another Christian and GKST member assumed to be Mr Bowo, though his identity is as yet unconfirmed."
2,000 KILLINGS
The Barnabas Fund has complained that while international media "rightly covered in detail the memorial services…to mark the first anniversary of the tragic Bali bombings that killed 200 Westerners," there has been little attention for anti-Christian violence in Indonesia.
Some 2,000 Christians are believed to have died in Muslim violence in Poso and surrounding area’s between 1999 and 2001. The latest killings have added to concern among human rights groups about a return of wide spread bloodshed.
The Barnabus Fund has urged Christians around the world to "pray for those who mourn the four deaths on Sunday, and to "pray that God will bring a lasting and genuine peace with justice to Central Sulawesi."
