22 Jan 08: Indonesia: Tackling Radicalism in Poso
Serious violence in Poso has had a ten-year history. Between 1998 and 2001, it had been the scene of Christian-Muslim fighting. After 2001 and a government-brokered peace pact, the violence became one-sided, with local extremists, many of them linked to and directed by the extremist organisation Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), mounting attacks on Christians, local officials and suspected informants. The 11 and 22 January 2007 operations were the culmination of almost a year’s unsuccessful effort by the police to persuade those responsible for criminal acts to turn themselves in. Fourteen militants and one policeman died in the process, but Poso is quieter and safer, by all accounts, than it has been in years. As a result of the January operations:

�� almost all the JI religious teachers from Java have fled the area;

�� the perpetrators of all the jihadi crimes committed since the 2001 Malino peace accord have been identified, and most have been arrested, tried and convicted, without any backlash;

�� the JI administrative unit (wakalah) in Poso appears to have been destroyed, at least temporarily;

�� a major vocational training program is underway aimed at ensuring that would-be extremists have career opportunities that will keep them out of trouble;

�� the central government has made new funding available, including for improving education in the hope of diluting the influence of radical teaching; and

�� no serious violence has taken place in Poso in twelve months.
Complete 12 page paper at the link.