The Star Online, Wednesday April 13, 2005
Home-made bomb rocks Ambon city
JAKARTA: A loud blast from a home-made bomb shattered the calm of the early
hours yesterday in the sectarian violence-hit eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, the
police said.
"There was no meaningful damage and no casualties," local police master sergeant
Maturito told AFP by telephone.
He said the blast, which could be heard across the city, occurred around 1.30am at
an empty intersection in the city's Sirimau area.
"Police found evidence pointing to a home-made bomb," Maturito said.
Tensions remain high in Ambon despite a February 2002 state-sponsored peace
accord between the Muslim and Christian communities after three years of clashes in
which 5,000 people were killed.
Despite the peace pact, sporadic violence has continued and tension between the two
communities has remained high in Ambon and several of its surrounding small
islands.
Last month, a grenade blast injured 14 people in Ambon.
Police have been bracing themselves for unrest ahead of April 25 when a local
separatist rebel group, the Republic of South Maluku marks its "independence day".
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