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Indonesian government supports the arrest of Jihad leader
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.
06/05/2002 23:00:54 | ABC Radio Australia News
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