Agence France-Presse, June 15, 2004
Bombs Found Near Meeting Hall in Ambon
AMBON, Maluku, June 15 (AFP): Police in the Maluku provincial capital of Ambon,
which is still tense after bloody Muslim-Christian clashes in April, found three bombs
planted near a meeting hall on Tuesday.
A package containing the bombs was hung on a tree outside the hall in the mainly
Christian Karangpanjang district.
A police bomb squad, alerted by building employees, defused the devices, said
Maluku provincial police spokesman Hendro Prasetyo.
Fixed to the tree was a flag from the outlawed separatist South Maluku Republic
(RMS), Prasetyo said. Sectarian violence broke out on April 25 after a procession by
mainly Christian separatist supporters.
Hundreds of homes and other buildings were torched and 38 people were killed.
Hundreds of extra troops and police were sent to the city. But there were several
bombings or attempted bombings last month ! in what police called an attempt to
provoke renewed fighting.
On May 25 a blast in a crowded market killed one person and injured 13 in the
Christian sector of the divided city.
Ambon and some other parts of the Maluku islands were ravaged bythree years of
Muslim-Christian clashes which killed more than 5,000 people before a February 2002
peace pact took effect.
Copyright © 2004 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.
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