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Islands In Focus

March 21, 2006

No arrests in sect attack

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Police have yet to make any arrests in connection with an attack last Friday on a house belonging to a member of Ahmadiyah, an Islamic group that has been branded as heretical by some mainstream Muslims.

West Nusa Tenggara Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. HM Basri said Monday police were investigating the attack on the home of Jumahir, an Ahmadiyah leader in central Lombok.

“There were many people involved in the attack so it will take time to investigate and name suspects,” Basri said.

He said police were finding it difficult to deal with a string of attacks on Ahmadiyah members and properties in Lombok because the status of the group remained unclear. The Indonesia Ulema Council has issued an edict condemning Ahmadiyah as a heretical sect, but the central government has yet to take an official stance on the issue.

A spokesman for Ahmadiyah in central Lombok, Basirudin Suhartono, said 32 Ahmadiyah families had been forced to seek shelter at a police station.

“We want the government to explain our teachings to the public. We’re not a heretical sect. We worship God and honor the Prophet Muhammad,” he said. – JP

Source: www.thejakartapost.com/detailnational.asp?fileid=20060321.D05&irec=8