Indonesian police on Tuesday deployed 18,000 men in the Indonesian capital for the Muslim Eid-al Fitr holiday and urged Muslims to avoid street parades, fearing a repetition of the Christams Eve bombings that left 14 dead and almost 100 injured.
"The force will also be strengthened by three companies of soldiers from the Jakarta garrison," Jakarta Police Chief Mulyono Sulaiman said according to the Detikcom online news service.
One Indonesian company of soldiers consists of about 100 men.
Officials and analysts have aired concerns that if the aim of the bombers was to open hostilities between Muslims and Christians, they might strike again on Eid-al-Fitr.
Sulaiman said the 18,000 men would be deployed Tuesday on the eve of Eid, and during the two-day Eid-al-Fitr on Wednesday and Thursday.
Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday warned of possible bombings during the celebrations, of the type that rocked churches and clergymen's homes in eight Indonesian cities on Christmas Eve.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blasts.
Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, is the main holiday in the Muslim calendar. It falls on Wednesday and Thursday this year.
The Jakarta police chief also asked Muslims to refrain from circulating through the city's streets on Tuesday night in traditional jubilant convoys during which youths beat truck-mounted drums to herald in the holiday.
In a meeting with the Muslim Youth Movement (GEMUIS) Tuesday, Sulaiman asked them to hold off on the convoys in light of attempts to stir up religious conflict.
He said police were worried that groups would try to take advantage of the processions to create "undesired" disturbances, the Satunet news service reported.
"After all there have been efforts to provoke conflict between the two religions by blowing up places of worship on Christmas Eve," Sulaiman was quoted as saying.
GEMUIS coordinator Ali Muchtar Nabalin agreed to the request.
"It is not something ordered by the Prophet, it is just an Indonesian habit," he was quoted as saying.
"It's best if Lebaran (Eid) Eve is marked by prayers at home or in the mosque." -- JAKARTA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
