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Indonesia's Defence Minister Matori
Abdul Jalil says the government supports the arrest of an Islamic
militia chief who has been linked to the massacre of 13 Christians
in the Maluku islands.
He says police consulted ministers before arresting Jaffar Umar
Thalib, the commander of the Java-based Laskar Jihad paramilitary
group, on Saturday.
He has been charged with insulting the president and vice
president and inciting people, during a sermon in Ambon, to attack
a Christian village on April 28 in which 13 people were killed.
The attack on Soya village was the worst bloodshed since
Christians and Muslims signed a pact in February to end three
years of sectarian bloodshed in the eastern island chain. More
than 5,000 people have died in the conflict since early 1999.
Laskar Jihad has long been accused of fuelling the fighting since
thousands of them descended on Maluku by the boatload from May
2000 vowing to defend Muslims. It opposes the peace pact.
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06/05/2002 21:01:47
| ABC Radio Australia News
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