Agence France-Presse, Tuesday June 15, 14:51 PM
Bombs found near meeting hall in Indonesia's Ambon city
Police in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, which is still tense after bloody
Muslim-Christian clashes in April, found three bombs planted near a meeting hall.
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,
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, which is the Maluku
provincial capital. 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 by three years of
Muslim-Christian clashes which killed more than 5,000 people before a February 2002
peace pact took effect.
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