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December 2001: Christians terrorized in Muslim Indonesia

Islamic militants praising bin Laden promise believers 'bloody December'.

Thousands of Islamic militants with apparent ties to Osama bin Laden are
terrorizing Christians in central Indonesia, according to religious advocacy
groups.

More than 50,000 Christians in the Central Sulawesi province town of Tentena
are in imminent danger of attack by a paramilitary group called Laskar
Jihad.

..At least 600 homes and six churches were burned during the Nov. 26-29
attacks, according to local sources reporting to the Voice of the Martyrs,
an Oklahoma-based group that monitors persecution against Christians. The
largest church in the coastal town of Poso, north of Tentena, was bombed and
burned during the onslaught, and 15,000 Christians reportedly fled the area,
VOM said. About 28,000 of the Christians under threat in Tentena are
refugees who fled their homes in Poso, according to ICC's Snyder.

Laskar Jihad's leader, Ja'far Umar Thalib, wants to make Indonesia an
Islamic state. In pursuance of that utopian goal, the movement waged a
violent campaign against Christians in neighboring Maluku province, where at
least 9,000 people have been killed since 1999.