MaxShimba
JF-Expert Member
- Apr 11, 2008
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Two Indonesian Churches Receive Bomb Threats
Islamic groups demand halt to threatened congregations worship.
JAKARTA, Indonesia, October 13 (CDN) Two churches in the greater Jakarta area have received bomb threats.
In East Jakarta, the pastor of a Batak Protestant Christian Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, or HKBP) on Bogor Street received a threatening phone call before Sunday services on Oct. 4. The church building is located near the headquarters of an elite police corps.
The unknown caller to the Rev. Abidan Simanungkalits cell phone said the bomb would explode during the morning worship service, the pastor told Compass.
I was startled to receive the short message, he said. I immediately phoned some church leaders and then called police.
Scores of police and bomb squad officers came to the site and combed the area for a bomb, discovering a black package in a garbage container near the front of the church building. It contained four large batteries, a small wall clock and a tin can, and after a two hours police determined that it was not a bomb.
Officers speculated that the caller was unable to construct a real bomb but wanted to publicize a threat.
Pastor Simanungkalit said congregation members were alarmed over the threat and that the morning worship was uneasy.
They were panicky and fearful, he said. People kept getting up to go outside and check on things.
The church has never had problems with anyone that would lead to such a threat, the pastor added.
Everything has been peaceful, he said. The close proximity of the police headquarters seemed to guarantee peace.
Islamic groups demand halt to threatened congregations worship.
JAKARTA, Indonesia, October 13 (CDN) Two churches in the greater Jakarta area have received bomb threats.
In East Jakarta, the pastor of a Batak Protestant Christian Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, or HKBP) on Bogor Street received a threatening phone call before Sunday services on Oct. 4. The church building is located near the headquarters of an elite police corps.
The unknown caller to the Rev. Abidan Simanungkalits cell phone said the bomb would explode during the morning worship service, the pastor told Compass.
I was startled to receive the short message, he said. I immediately phoned some church leaders and then called police.
Scores of police and bomb squad officers came to the site and combed the area for a bomb, discovering a black package in a garbage container near the front of the church building. It contained four large batteries, a small wall clock and a tin can, and after a two hours police determined that it was not a bomb.
Officers speculated that the caller was unable to construct a real bomb but wanted to publicize a threat.
Pastor Simanungkalit said congregation members were alarmed over the threat and that the morning worship was uneasy.
They were panicky and fearful, he said. People kept getting up to go outside and check on things.
The church has never had problems with anyone that would lead to such a threat, the pastor added.
Everything has been peaceful, he said. The close proximity of the police headquarters seemed to guarantee peace.
