REUTERS, Thursday April 11, 2002 11:22 AM
Three killed as Christians clash in Indonesia's Moluccas
JAKARTA (Reuters) - At least three people were killed and 12 others injured in a
clash between Christian villagers in Indonesia's eastern Moluccas islands, the official
Antara news agency reported on Thursday.
A local police official confirmed the clash took place on Wednesday night between
residents of two villages, but said it was not related to three years of Christian-Muslim
violence that has seen over 5,000 deaths across the Moluccas.
"The clash was not a religious conflict, they were Christians," the police officer said
by telephone from Ambon, the main city in the Moluccas.
"The situation is under control. The Moluccas police chief went there this morning to
check on the latest situation."
The fresh violence follows a bomb blast last week in Ambon that killed four people and
cast a cloud over a landmark peace pact aimed at ending religious violence in the
chain of islands that make up the Moluccas.
Antara said Wednesday's clash happened on Saparua island, not far from Ambon
itself, which lies 2,300 km (1,400 miles) east of Jakarta.
It said the cause of the clash was unclear.
No group has claimed responsibility for last week's bomb attack in a Christian
neighbourhood of Ambon that wounded 55 people.
The Moluccas is one of several flashpoints where separatist, communal or religious
tensions pose a challenge to the central government's efforts to maintain order and
convince investors and aid donors that the world's most populous Muslim country is
stable.
About 85 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim, but Christians make
up roughly half the population in some eastern areas.
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