United Press International, Published 4/3/2002 7:37 AM
Explosion kills four in Indonesia
By Sukino Harisumarto
From the International Desk
JAKARTA, Indonesia, April 3 (UPI) -- An explosion rocked the eastern Indonesian city
of Ambon on the Moluccas Island Wednesday, killing at least four people and injuring
more than 50 others, church and hospital officials said.
The explosion, believed to be from a bomb, shattered glass at the Ambonia hotel in
downtown Ambon, the provincial capital of Maluku, sparking new tension after months
of quiet.
"It was a big explosion. It scattered glasses at the Amboina hotel and a motorcycle
parked there was burned following the blast," Sammy Waileruni of Ambon told United
Press International by telephone.
Waileruni and the state-run Antara news agency said the explosion sparked unrest
among residents of Ambon who marched to the governor's office building and torched
a number of offices there. Government forces fired warning shots into the air to stop
the violence.
"The situation here is tense," Waileruni said, and added employees of private and
government offices, as well as school children, returned home immediately after the
incident.
A nurse at the Ambon's state-run hospital said four people were killed in the blast,
while at least 53 others were injured, many seriously.
Antara quoted witnesses as saying the explosion took place after an object was
thrown from van that sped by the hotel, which is located in a predominantly Christian
community.
The explosion took place after two warring Muslim and Christian factions signed the
"Maluku Agreement" peace accord in Malino on Feb. 12 in a bid to end more than
three years of fighting.
Ambon and nearby islands have been wracked by fighting between Muslims and
Christians since early 1999. More than 5,000 people have died in the conflict,
hundreds injured and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes.
About 88 percent of Indonesia's 220 million people are Muslim, making it the world's
most populous Islamic nation. Christians, however, are an equal proportion to
Muslims in the Moluccas Islands, known during Dutch colonial days as the Spice
Islands.
Some blame the conflict on economic and social pressure from increasing numbers of
Muslim settlers.
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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