Indonesia faces alleged efforts to revive sectarian conflict

Indonesia is now facing alleged efforts to revive another sectarian conflict in the city of Poso in Central Sulawesi province that had witnessed gruesome act of violence conducted by Christianity and Islam followers against each other, claiming more than 1,000 lives and forced 25,000 others displaced in the late 90s to early 2000s. The city of Poso witnessed security breaches in the last few months targeting police and civilians, inciting the fear of sectarian conflict reoccurrence in the regency mostly inhabited by Christianity followers. The violence in the regency has been escalated since August this year with at least four shootings conducted by unidentified gunmen that killed two police officers. Local media reported that the violence included arson against a church, bombing in a traffic police station and bombing attempt in a place somewhere near the city's Tentena market. Police managed to defuse the bomb in the last place. Prior to the bombing against the police station, Indonesian apparatus found bodies of two police in a single grave located in a radical group's stronghold area. Those two slain police were declared missing on Oct. 8 and found dead eight days later. Police learned that before being killed, those police were being tortured by the perpetrators. Indonesian police headquarters said that the perpetrators were members of a radical group. "The slaying against police members were related to violence occurred in the regency lately," said Boy Rafli Amar, a spokesperson at the police headquarters. He said that the police have identified the one responsible for the killing of the two police and the violence happened prior to the killing. They are now pursuing the man identified as Santoso, who allegedly leads the radical group, he added. Santoso was the successor of a radical group formerly led by Basri who was involved in the killing of police, series of shooting against churches, the slaying of a Christian reverend and the beheading of two female Christians from 2005 to 2007, local media reported. Basri is now serving in jail. Indonesia's then-administration was able to end the sectarian conflict that occurred three times -- December 1998, April 2000 and June 2000, in an assembly attended by representatives of feuding parties in Dec. 20, 2001, in a retreat area of Malino in the province, brokered by Jusuf Kalla and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the latter became the country's president late.