Indonesia's Deadly Christmas Eve Bombings Raise Public Outcry
The blasts also raised suspicions that a well organized group -- including elements or groups within the security forces -- was responsible.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, a moderate Muslim, said the bombings were aimed at undermining his government by spreading fear and confusion.
He said the almost simultaneous explosions in seven cities late on Sunday showed the bombers were "well organized" and that the perpetrators were from groups used to cooperating.
"Their steps, I think, are to shake the government, create panic and fear so that the government cannot function," Wahid told journalists at the Halim Perdanakusumah Airbase shortly before flying to the province of Irian Jaya.
Rights lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan from the Indonesian Association of Legal Aid and Human Rights (PBHI), a Christian, pointed the finger at elements or groups within the Indonesian armed forces or the police.
"This (the bombings) is linked to a certain group, it involves an established group which is used to the use of explosives and good planning and coordination," Pangaribuan said.
"Not everyone is capable of this... I think that civilians are incapable of this," he said, adding it would not have been the forces as an institution but individuals or groups within them.
A PBHI statement said "elements of the old political forces are the ones most interested in scuttling a political transition toward democracy and also in possession of the ability to conduct those savage actions."
"Certainly there is strong reason to believe, from common sense reasoning, that this kind of precise operation is organized by a group which are well coordinated and well budgeted," presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar told AFP.
Secretary General of the National Commission on Human Rights, Asmara Nababan said he believed the Christian community was only "an intermediary target" and that the real target was the government.
National Police Chief General Suroyo Bimantoro said 18 bombs were set off in seven cities, killing 14 people and seriously injuring 47. Police had also found and defused another 15 bombs -- 13 in Medan in North Sumatra and two in Jakarta.
The bombs exploded outside churches in Jakarta, Pekanbaru in Sumatra, Batam Island south of Singapore, Sukabumi and Bandung in West Java, Mojokerto in East Java and Mataram in West Nusatenggara.
A bomb wrapped as a Christmas gift blew up and damaged the home of a Christian priest in Simalungun, North Sumatra, late on Sunday but caused no casualties, the local deputy police chief, assistant superintendent Mahavira Zein, was quoted by the Satunet on-line news service as saying.
Three other bombs were later found at two churches and another priest's home and defused, he added.
On Christmas Day here, Christmas mass was conducted in a subdued mood, witnesses said.
At Jakarta's Roman Catholic Cathedral, where bags were searched at the entrance, Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja called for calm.
"We do not need to accuse anyone at this present time ... even more so (accuse) another religion," he said.
The bombings prompted a flurry of meetings between religious groups and the authorities and a chorus of public indignation, including from Muslim organizations.
Several social organizations issued a "Jakarta communique" condemning the incidents and calling on Indonesians to remain alert and not react emotionally, the Antara news agency said.
A meeting of several noted religious leaders and intellectuals, including at least two former ministers, made the same call for calm and agreed to set up their own team to probe the bombings.
Some 10.5 million, or five percent, of Indonesia's 210 million people are Christian.
Recent violence between Christians and Muslims has been largely confined to the Maluku islands where the two communities have been locked in a bitter conflict that has killed 5,000 since January of 1999.