OCT 13 1996
By Paul Jacob Indonesia Correspondent
JAKARTA -- Indonesia's Muslim and Christian leaders have come out to express regret at Thursday's rioting in the East Java town of Situbondo that left at least five dead, 25 churches, a Buddhist temple and other property burnt or damaged.
Reports here yesterday said at least 52 people were detained in the aftermath of the rioting sparked by resentment over what a crowd of up to 3,000 considered a light sentence passed on a local Muslim sect leader.
The preacher, identified only as Saleh, was given a five-year jail term by a court in the town after he was found guilty of insulting Islam by his interpretation of the faith.
Crowds, which gathered at the courthouse during the course of the trial, called for a stiffer sentence, including the death penalty, apparently unaware that the maximum sentence possible was a five-year jail term.
They stormed and burnt the courthouse after the verdict was read out, forcing police and military personnel to take the judge and the suspect into safe custody.
A nearby church was the first of at least 25 burnt down after word spread among the crowd that the suspect was taken there for safekeeping. Mob action was by then spreading further afield and reports here said unrest also took place in the town of Banyuwangi, about 100 km away.
Shops, Christian schools, orphanages, a temple, offices, cars and motorcycles in and around Situbondo were also targeted and either burnt or damaged.
Mr Amien Rais, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Muslim organisation, said it was clear that instigators were at work because the crowd of Muslims would otherwise not have attacked places of worship of other religions.
He urged the Muslim community in East Java and elsewhere to restrain themselves and "not to get provoked and influenced by those who do not want to see stability in our country".
Haji Ali Yafie, a senior leader in the Majelis Ulama Indonesia, the country's highest council on Islamic affairs, said irresponsible elements had engineered and used the Muslim community to engage in activities which did not reflect the interests and teachings of the religion.
"The savagery which they carried out seriously damaged religious harmony and, what is more regrettable, resulted in deaths," he said.
Police said five died through their identities were not released officially. But a statement from the Federation of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) put the toll at six -- a priest, his wife, two children, a church worker and a helper. All died when the church in which they had taken shelter was burnt down.
The PGI urged calm among the Christian community but also expressed concern and called on the authorities to take all possible steps to ensure the situation was handled in a just and fair manner.
Thousands of police and military personnel have been deployed in the town and surrounding regions. Most shops remained closed.
The sensitivity and concern with which the government viewed Thursday's developments were reflected in the fact that State Secretary Moerdiono called a press briefing on Friday evening, where he expressed deep regret that unrest of this nature had occurred.
Indonesia is a multi-religious country but at least 90 per cent of the population profess to be Muslims.
The suspect in the case which sparked the unrest was reported to be the head of a Muslim sect whose teachings angered leaders of the more traditional Muslim community in the area. Complaints were filed against him resulting in his case being taken to court.
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