April 8, 2007:
Pre-election violence in East
Timor over the last week, has left about three dozen people injured. The 4,600
police (local and 1,600 foreign) have arrested 200 people who were active in
election related violence. There are 522,000 voters registered for tomorrow's
presidential elections. There are eight candidates for the job, and the
incumbent is not running for reelection. The economy is broken, and the urban
unemployment rate is over fifty percent. It's less than half that in rural
areas, but work their is very hard, and life, especially for young folks, is
pretty boring. Prospects for the country are not good, no matter who gets
elected.
April 4, 2007: In an unusual move, police released
details of documents seized in a raid last month, which were the result
of interrogations of recently arrested Islamic terrorists. The seized documents
included an organization chart of terror organization Jemaah
Islamiah. The documents contained handwriting of known Islamic terrorists. The
charts showed the changes that have taken place in Jemaah Islamiah
over the last few years. Jemaah Islamiah has reconstituted itself
in the face of many leaders getting arrested. The terrorist organization,
however, appears more formidable on paper, than in reality. The explosives seized
in the raids were sufficient to build larger bombs than Islamic terrorists have
ever used in Indonesia. The police apparently showed off some of the captured
charts to let be known that Jemaah Islamiah was taking damage, was on the
run, and was not as mysterious as many media stories had asserted.
Counter-terror efforts have been successful, even though Indonesia has been
criticized for not punishing captured terrorists sufficiently. But the
Indonesians believe their approach will eliminate the terrorism, without
stirring up more enthusiasm for Islamic radicalism.
April 3, 2007: Twelve Christians are now on trial
for killing two Moslems on Sulawesi last Fall. Half the population on the
island of Sulawesi is Christian, and in the late 1990s, Islamic militants came
along, preaching violence against infidels (non-Moslems). Over a thousand
people have died so far, but extra police and soldiers have restored peace.
Dozens of Islamic radicals are still on the island, and still preaching
violence. Last year, three Christians were executed for killing Moslems, while
three Moslems who killed and beheaded three Christian school girls, avoided the
death penalty and received 20 year jail sentences. Police activity in Sulawesi
is increasing because it is believed more members of terror group Jemaah
Islamiah (JI) are coming to Sulawesi to hide out. The government believes that
executing Moslems would give the Islamic conservatives more popular support.
Christians are a minority nationwide, while 87 percent of the population
is Moslem. The tensions in Sulawesi are not entirely religious. The Christian
areas used to be almost entirely Christian, but over the last three decades,
the government has encouraged (with laws, money and land) Moslems from
overpopulated areas, to move to less populated Christian areas. This has
created frictions.
April 1, 2007: In East Timor, UN peacekeepers no
longer consider rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado a threat to peace, or
next weeks presidential elections. Reinado, and a few followers,
have been on the run for weeks, which has kept the rebel leader busy, and away
from local politics. Peacekeepers believe they will eventually run
Reinado to ground.