ABC AUSTRALIA, 27/04/2004 17:11:51
Policeman shot dead in continuing unrest in Indonesia's Ambon
A paramilitary policeman has been shot dead and another injured in the troubled
eastern Indonesian city of Ambon.
Hundreds of police and troops have been deployed in the area to quell an upsurge in
sectarian violence.
Witnesses say the policemen were shot by a sniper in the Batugantung-Waringin
area, south of the city centre.
The shooting brings the known death toll to 24 since violence between Muslim and
Christian communities flared at the weekend.
The latest violence is the most significant threat to a peace accord, that has held for
more than two years, and was reached after earlier fighting killed 5,000 people in the
Maluku province.
It follows a banned parade by mainly Christian separatists of the Maluku Sovereignty
Front to mark the 54th anniversary of the proclamation of a self-styled South Maluku
Republic.
27/04/2004 17:11:51 | ABC Radio Australia News
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