Christian militants executed for attacks

? Three Christian militants were executed by firing squad early today for leading attacks on Muslims six years ago that left 70 people dead, police and relatives said.

Mobs torched cars and police posts in several villages before security forces restored order, said Poso police chief Maj. Rudy Sufahriyadi. Elsewhere they blockaded roads and threw stones at houses and government offices. At least three people were hurt.

The men were taken before the firing squad at 1:15 p.m. CDT Thursday, said a senior police officer who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Family members later said they had received confirmation of their deaths.

In carrying out the death sentence, Indonesia ignored an appeal last month by Pope Benedict XVI to spare the men. A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told the Italian news agency ANSA that news of the execution “was very sad and painful.”

Fabianus Tibo, 60, Marinus Riwu, 48, and Dominggus da Silva, 42, were found guilty of leading a Christian militia that launched a series of attacks in May 2000 – including a machete and gun assault on an Islamic school where dozens of men were seeking shelter.

Security forces braced for sectarian violence, with thousands of police blocking roads leading to the prison where the inmates were being held, standing on street corners and guarding nearby churches.

“I understand they have been killed,” said Roy Rening, their attorney, adding that he was still awaiting confirmation from the prosecutor’s office.

The case against them has heightened tensions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation and raised questions about the role religion played in punishing those allegedly behind the violence that swept Sulawesi province from 1998 to 2002, killing more than 1,000 people of both religions.

Only a handful of Muslims were convicted in the violence, all for 15 years in prison or less.

The men told relatives and a priest during final prayers Thursday at their jail that they were innocent but ready to die.

The planned executions came amid an outcry in many Muslim nations about comments made by Benedict on Islam.

The pontiff last week cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman.” He has since said he was “deeply sorry” about the reactions to his remarks and that they did not reflect his own opinions.

The condemned men had said they hoped investigations into the clashes would continue, noting that they had provided authorities with the names of 16 Christians who allegedly instigated some of the bloodshed.

Human rights workers say the men’s 2001 trial was a sham, and that while it was possible the men took part in some of the violence, they almost certainly were not the masterminds.