Posts Tagged ‘Indonesia’

.. and possibly some of the congregation too, by the sound of it. More Interfaith Dialogue™ from the religion that does it best:

At least one person has been killed and several injured by a suicide bombing at a church in Indonesia’s Java province.

A police spokesman told reporters that only the suspected bomber had died but that a number of other people were injured in the blast in Solo.

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country but is officially a secular state.

Radical Islamist groups have carried out a number of deadly attacks in the past few years.

Witnesses said the bomber struck as people were leaving the Bethel church after a Sunday service.

“What I can confirm now, the only person killed was the bomber. We’re still investigating if there are other people killed,” Lt Col Djihartono told the AFP news agency.

He said an anti-terror unit was on the scene collecting evidence.

Another police officer told the Antara news agency the identity of the bomber and the motive behind the attack were unknown.

The El Shinta radio station said casualties were taken to two hospitals.

[Source: BBC - we'll update as more is known]

Happy Easter from the Religion of Peace and Interfaith Dialogue

JAKARTA – Indonesia said Thursday that the nation was on its highest level of alert ahead of Easter after police arrested suspects over a suspected Easter Book Bombing Campaign by Muslims.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto said the Indonesian president “has instructed military, police, and people who care about combating terrorism to ensure security ahead of Easter”.

“Starting tonight, tomorrow morning and on easter day, the military and the police will be on the highest alert at all designated places,” Suyanto said.

National police spokesman Anton Bachrul Alam said that anti-terror police have arrested a total of 19 people, including two in Aceh province, north Sumatra. Read the rest of this entry »

Another ‘Wrong Kind of Muslim’ attack against the Ahmadiyya sect – this time in in Moderate, Progressive™ Indonesia:

The military denied on Tuesday that it had ordered the Siliwangi command in West Java to encourage mainstream Muslims to occupy Ahmadiyah mosques and preach “the true path” of Islam.

The denial follows statements by one of the Army’s top generals, Maj. Gen. Moeldoko, who had called on Muslims to refrain from physical violence and acts of vandalism, and instead conduct “an attack of prayer rugs” in mosques belonging to the beleaguered minority Islamic sect.

In what human rights watchdogs have called a clear attempt to forcibly convert Ahmadis, Moeldoko, the head of the Siliwangi Military Command, said earlier this month that it was better to avoid violence and instead get the Ahmadis to open up their mosques to mainstream Muslims [ahem - Ed. ].

“I ask all of you [Muslims] to sit inside their mosques, which are exclusive for Ahmadis,” he said. “Let us fill their mosques with Islamic activities and the correct teachings of Islam.” Read the rest of this entry »

Well-known Indonesian multifaith peace activist, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir

No Terrorist Like an Old Terrorist:

Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir on Thursday denied leading an Al-Qaeda-style group that was plotting attacks and assassinations in Indonesia, as his trial resumed amid tight security.
But he said that Muslims carrying out weapons training did so as a divinely-ordered “act of worship” so as to “defend Islam”.

The preacher, who is revered by Islamists around the region, is accused of leading a militant group that was discovered last year training recruits in Aceh province to wage jihad or holy war.

Police jostled with about 200 of the 72-year-old’s supporters who tried to enter the court as he arrived under tight guard amid shouts of “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest). Read the rest of this entry »