The Indonesian president said that "there is no room for acts of terror on Indonesian soil". Card Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, president of the Bishops' Conference, also calls for national unity to fight terrorism. Special forces are in the Siji region to hunt down terrorists.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo sent a strong message to the country yesterday in a speech in which he condemned the killing of four Christians in central Sulawesi, noting that “there is no room for acts of terror on Indonesian soil.”
At the start of his address, Widodo expressed his personal condolences and those of his government to the family of the victims, noting that the government would provide them with financial aid.
He also called on the country to show unity. "We must be united as a nation to stop these acts of terror". Indonesia’s Catholic bishops share the pain and join in the call for unity.
In a message, Card Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, Archbishop of Jakarta and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI), says that bishops must “encourage good relations between communities of different faiths.
To this end, he calls on Catholics to "behave in an honest way, leaving the police do their job. The Bishops' Conference supports the central government in Jakarta in the work of eradicating terrorist groups throughout the country.”
In his speech, Widodo also said that he had "ordered the police and military” to end “these terrorist acts and crush them,” which he strongly condemns.
These acts “go beyond our humanity and civilisation” and “are aimed at “fuelling provocation and terror in our society, causing damage to our unity and peaceful coexistence.”
A few hours earlier, Indonesian Air Force Commander Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto said that a group of special forces was ready to hunt down the terrorists in the Siji area of central Sulawesi working with local police.