ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sat May 4, 2002 5:40 AM ET
Fresh riots break out in Indonesia's Ambon province, three
injured
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Fresh fighting between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia's
Maluku province broke out on Saturday, leaving three people injured, witnesses and
local news reports said.
Indonesian security forces fired warning shots to disperse the rock-throwing crowds in
the center of the provincial capital, Ambon, witnesses said. A car was torched in the
unrest.
Two people were hit by bullets, while a third was injured in a bomb explosion, state
news agency Antara reported. It did not provide more details.
The clash was the latest in a series of violent incidents that have undermined a recent
peace deal aimed at stopping three years of conflict that has claimed up to 9,000
lives.
Both sides have accused the other of triggering the latest bout of violence, which
came after several months of relative peace.
Last Sunday, unidentified attackers killed 13 Christians in a raid on a village on the
outskirts of Ambon, which is separated into Muslim and Christian sections.
Some Christian leaders blamed a militant Muslim militia, the Laskar Jihad, for the
attack. The group has denied any involvement
Fighting intensified in 2000 when Laskar Jihad fighters arrived in the archipelago,
2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) east of Jakarta, from their base on Indonesian's main
island of Java.
The group has been accused of having links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network,
something which it and Indonesian officials deny.
Christian youth in Maluku have also organized into militia groups.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Islamic nation. However, in Maluku — which
has a population of about two million people — the balance between Christians and
Muslims is almost even.
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
|
