Indonesia police guard churches amid wave of hate (AFP)

JAKARTA (AFP) – Indonesian police stood guard outside churches Wednesday after a wave of religious hate crimes swept the mainly Muslim country, shocking civil society and sparking international concern.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has been criticised for failing to stem the violence, ordered the police and military to go "all-out" against extremists behind the unrest.

"Every person should be guaranteed protection and safety, whatever his faith, ethnicity, race, political affiliation or profession," the softly spoken ex-general said in a speech to provincial governors.

"The string of violence must be stopped. I have instructed all regional heads, police and military regional commands to launch all-out actions... to prevent these violent actions from happening."

Indonesia's image as a "moderate" bastion of inter-faith harmony has taken a severe battering in recent months at the hands of violent Islamic extremists and vigilante groups.

The wave of hate crimes targeting Christians and other minorities climaxed on Sunday when hundreds of enraged Muslims brutally murdered three followers of a heterodox Islamic sect in front of police, who did little to intervene.

The country was still reeling at the disturbing video of that lynch mob attack when another Muslim mob rampaged through the streets of Temanggung, Central Java, on Tuesday.

This time the police responded with tear gas and warning shots but again they failed to stop the mob, which set fire to two churches and vandalised a Catholic school as they demanded death for a Christian man who had been sentenced to jail for blaspheming Islam.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini described the incident as a "very serious demonstration of anti-Christian fanaticism".

US Ambassador Scot Marciel said the United States "joins the vast majority of Indonesians in deploring the violence" against the Ahmadiyah community, and noted "with concern" the church burnings in Central Java.

Human rights organisations have urged Yudhoyono to do more to combat intolerance in the country of 240 million people, 80 percent of whom are Muslims, saying religious violence is on the rise.

Central Java provincial police spokesman Djihartono said almost 1,200 security personnel had been deployed in Temanggung in response to Tuesday's unrest.

"We have deployed 1,183 personnel including from the military, which we have mobilised in several important locations such as churches, prisons, the prosecutors' office and the commercial centre," he said.