BBC, Tuesday, 25 May, 2004, 09:51 GMT 10:51 UK
Violence returns to Ambon
By Rachel Harvey, BBC correspondent in Jakarta
A bomb has exploded on the Indonesian island of Ambon, killing one person and
injuring at least 13 others.
The blast was the third in as many days, and comes after a resurgence in sectarian
fighting last month which left 38 people dead.
That violence was sparked by an illegal rally by members of a mainly Christian
separatist movement.
The instability has raised fears of a return to the violence which blighted the island
before a 2002 peace deal.
The bomb exploded in the middle of the morning in a crowded market. Police say a
second device discovered near a church was defused.
Both bombs were planted in the Christian sector of the divided city, close to the
scene of two explosions on Sunday, which injured five people.
Last month dozens of people were killed in a sudden eruption of renewed communal
violence.
Around two-thirds of the victims were Muslims, many apparently shot by skilled
marksmen.
Sporadic violence has continued ever since, despite the presence of hundreds of extra
troops and armed police, who were sent to the island in a bid to restore calm.
Indonesia's police chief, Dai Bachtiar, has described the explosions of the past three
days as an attempt to provoke further trouble. But he did not say who he thought was
responsible.
There have been numerous conspiracy theories put forward to explain who the
unidentified snipers may have been, and who might now be trying to retaliate.
But there is little hard evidence and few facts to support any of the theories put
forward.
The key question is who might benefit from a return to violence in Ambon, part of a
chain of islands called the Moluccas. For now the answer remains elusive.
© BBC MMIV
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