AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Tuesday May 14, 2002
Indonesia to give families of Ambon unrest victims 200 dollars
JAKARTA May 14 (AFP) - Officials in Indonesia's Ambon city will give some 200
dollars to each family of the victims killed in three years of Muslim-Christian unrest
there, the state Antara news agency said Tuesday.
As a start, 718 families will receive two million rupiah (215 dollars) each, the head of
Ambon social welfare office, Petrus Manusiwa, was quoted by Antara as saying.
Manusiwa said 12 people who were left disabled by the conflict would receive one
million rupiah each.
The Muslim-Christian violence in the Maluku islands, of which Ambon is the main city,
has left more than 5,000 people dead.
It first broke out in January 1999 in Ambon on the island of the same name and later
spread to other islands in the Maluku chain, formerly known as the Spice Islands.
A state-brokered peace pact in February this year brought a brief calm but has been
undermined by a series of violent incidents since early April -- notably the April 28
massacre of 13 Christian villagers.
Copyright © 2001 AFP. All rights reserved.
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