6 sentenced in sectarian slayings

Six Islamic militants received sentences of up to 19 years in prison for terrorist acts in eastern Indonesia that included beheading three Christian schoolgirls and shooting a priest to death.

The harshest sentences were given to Abdul Muis bin Kamarudin and Rahman Kalahe, who were convicted in the 2006 killing of the Rev. Irianto Kongkoli and in the beheadings in 2005.

Wide-scale sectarian violence left more than 2,000 people dead between 1998 and 2002 in Central Sulawesi province, roughly split between Christians and Muslims. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, with nearly 90% of its 235 million people practicing Islam.