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Java, the government and Muslims condemn the attack against Christians in Kepunton
by Mathias Hariyadi
For the President Yodhoyono the attack is an unacceptable act. The largest Islamic organization in the country defines the bombers "inhuman criminals." Suspicions about the Islamic group extremist Cirebon.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – The Indonesian government and Muslim religious leaders condemn today's attack against the Protestant Bethel Christian Indonesia Church (GBIS) of Kepunton (Solo, Central Java). The attack killed three people and wounded 20 others. President Yudhoyono has called it an unacceptable act against all Indonesian people. Din Syamsudin, head of Muhamadiyah, the second largest Islamic organization in the country, called the attackers "a group of criminals without the slightest sense of humanity."
Renewing his commitment to eradicate extremism, Yodhoyono has already revealed the initial results of the investigation, which point to the Cirebon group, an Islamic fundamentalist movement, already responsible for the explosion in the Cirebon police mosque in April.
Today's attack is the worst in a series of attacks launched by Islamic extremists against the Christian community and the police. Sources inside the police special forces believe the extremists attack is in revenge for clashes between Christians and Muslims in Ambon (Maluku) September 12 last.
Attacks on churches are not new in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. In 2001 in East Jakarta, two bombs targeted the Catholic Church of St. Anne in Duren Sawit and Huria Protestant Christian Church. In 2000, Islamic extremists detonated bombs in more than 20 churches across the country during the Christmas celebrations.