Indonesian govt to provide assistance to victims of Sampang violence

The Indonesian government will provide compensation to the families of two Shiite Muslims who were killed in an attack by a mob in Sampang district, Madura Island, East Java, according to a minister, according to Antaranews.com

"The President has ordered the allocation of funds, either from the local government or the central government, for the families of the dead victims," Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said here on Monday.

The minister was scheduled to visit Sampang on Monday. Justice and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin, National Police Chief General Timur Pradopo and Chief of the National Defense Forces (TNI) Admiral Agus Suhartono have also planned to visit the district in order to facilitate talks between stakeholders in the conflict.

"In the evening we will hold a meeting to find a solution," Fauzi said.

A number of Shiite Muslims fled their villages after a mob of Islamic hardliners attacked them and set their houses on fire in Nangkernang, Karanggayam village, Omben sub-district, Sampang.

Two Shiite Muslims were reported killed and scores of others were injured in the incident in Omben on Sunday.

At present, there are 50 refugees - comprising women and children from Omben - accommodated at the Wijaya Kusuma Sport Hall in Sampang on East Java`s Madura Island after the Sunday attack.

The attack on the Shiite Muslim community in the area was the second in the past two years.

In December 2011, an anti-Shiite group attacked a Shiite mosque, an Islamic boarding school, and a house belonging to a local Shiite leader.