Trial over Indonesian beheadings to start next week

JAKARTA, Nov 3 (Reuters) Three Indonesian men will go on trial next week over the beheading of three teenage Christian girls in Central Sulawesi province last year, with the case moved to the capital amid security concerns, officials today said.

The attack took place in Central Sulawesi's Poso region, an area where deadly Muslim-Christian clashes broke out from 1998 to 2001, and where simmering violence continues.

''The trial next week is over last year's beheadings. We could not hold it in Poso because the condition there is unsuitable due to security reasons,'' said Wayan Pasek Suartha, spokesman of the country's attorney-general's office.

The trial will take place at the Central Jakarta court.

A prosecutor involved in the case said the main defendant, Hasanuddin, would be indicted on Wednesday under Indonesia's anti-terrorism laws.

The two other defendants face charges of helping Hasanuddin.

The use of anti-terrorism laws means all three defendants could receive the death penalty if found guilty.

It was unclear how the defendants would plead.

Police said after the attack that up to six people dressed in black outfits and masks killed the teenage schoolgirls with machetes near the centre of the town of Poso.

The beheadings triggered an outcry across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, and beyond. The Vatican described the attack as ''barbaric''.

The situation in Central Sulawesi has become more tense since the executions of three Christian militants last September over the slaying of Muslims in a boarding school in 2000.

There have been sporadic bombings in recent weeks, as well as the assassination of a pastor, a church torching, attacks against police and a mob killing of two Muslims.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has come under fire for failing to quell the violence. Officials say the the situation has been inflamed by tiny groups from both religions bent on spreading terror in the region.

Fifteen people have been arrested over a series of attacks since 2001 mainly targeting Christians in Central Sulawesi province, police said this week.

Three years of sectarian clashes in Central Sulawesi killed more than 2,000 people before a peace accord took effect in late 2001. There has been sporadic violence ever since.

Around 85 per cent of Indonesia's 220 million people follow Islam, but some areas in eastern Indonesia have roughly equal numbers of Muslim and Christians.

REUTERS SY KP1639