Muslims Arrested for Attack on Church

Four Indonesians were arrested for attempted burning of a church in Citeko, west of Java, carried out by hundreds of fundamentalists.

JAKARTA (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Four persons have been arrested by the Indonesian police on suspicion of participating in the attack on a Christian church in Citeko, west of Java.

The Jakarta Post reports that the incident over which they have been jailed in Purwakarta, 25 kilometres from the site of the attack, took place overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, when hundreds of Muslim fundamentalists attacked the church in an attempt to burn it down.

The attack by the fundamentalists is thought to have been prompted by the intention of the Christians to build a new church, and to carry forward the project despite the disagreement of local leaders, according to whom "everybody is Muslim" in the village.

The incident is part of the increasing pressure that the Islamic fundamentalists are applying to the Christian community, which represents 5% of the 234 million inhabitants of what is considered the most populous Muslim country in the world.