[Excerpt: More than 1000 people have been killed in the area over four years of sectarian fighting..... A recent report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned extremists linked to the Jemaah Islamiah terror network were using the area as a recruiting ground.] _http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11776143%255E1702,00.html_ (http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11776143%5E1702,00.html) Machete gang attacks preacher December 24, 2004 A CHRISTIAN preacher has been attacked and badly wounded by a machete-wielding gang on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi despite a massive security operation intended to curb sectarian blood-letting and terror attacks during Christmas. Reverend Jemri Tambalino was in critical condition after the attack by three men in the coastal town of Poso, which has been a major battleground between the Muslim majority and Christian minority. The preacher, who was riding a motorbike, suffered deep slash wounds to his neck and face. A friend travelling with Rev Tambalino was also attacked, with injuries to his hand, a hospital spokesman said. More than 1000 people have been killed in the area over four years of sectarian fighting. A recent report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group warned extremists linked to the Jemaah Islamiah terror network were using the area as a recruiting ground. Three people were hospitalised in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province, earlier this month when assailants on motorcycles lobbed bombs and opened fire on two churches. The latest attack came as more than 180,000 police and military were placed outside churches and shopping malls around Indonesia after Australia and other western nations warned that intelligence chatter indicated another terrorist attack may be imminent. In Jakarta, 28,000 police and soldiers have been dispatched to guard the city's 467 churches and other places of worship, along with shopping centres and five-star hotels. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation. The countryt has been hit by a wave of deadly bombings in the past few years. A string of church explosions on Christmas Eve four years ago left 19 people dead and in the October 2002 Bali bombings 202 people died, including 88 Australians. At the main Catholic Cathedral in Jakarta, metal detectors had been installed ahead of Christmas Eve services, and hundreds of paramilitary police were expected to be placed outside this afternoon. Security officials from the nearby presidential palace had been personally in contact to ensure enough officers were on hand, Pastor Dony Suganda from Melbourne said. "They will be sweeping the grounds today to look for bombs and other threats," he said. The Indonesian-born Suganda has shrugged off the threat of attack after arriving to help out over Christmas. "We follow the Son of God, so we're not worried about that," he said. "We are just praying and we trust in our Lord." Australia, Britain and the US warned last week that militants behind the September 9 bombing of he Australian embassy in Jakarta could be plotting a new attack. They urged their citizens to stay away and drastically scaled down consular services. Canberra's alert specifically warned of a strike on a Hilton hotel in Indonesia, prompting the chain to step up security at its hotels in Jakarta, Bali and Surabaya. Two of regional terror network Jemaah Islamiah's most senior members, Malaysian bomb technician Azahari Husin and suicide bomb recruiter Noordin Mohammed Top, are still on the run despite a massive year-long manhunt by elite anti-terror police squads. Reverend Natan Setiabudi, chairman of the Indonesian Communion of Churches, said Christians "do not feel totally secure", particularly since the Palu attacks showed violence "could happen anytime, anywhere". AAP enditem
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