The Jakarta Post, 5/24/2004 12:53:27 PM
Tension rises in Ambon day after bomb blasts wound five
AMBON, Maluku (AFP): Tension rose here on Monday, with residents setting up
roadblocks in several parts of the city after bombs wounded five people.
The city is still recovering from an outbreak of Muslim-Christian violence which began
late last month and killed 38 people.
Barricades, made of tyres, rocks, bamboo, wood and hawker wagons, blocked several
main streets in both the Christian and Muslim sectors early on Monday. But by noon
armed police and troops had cleared most of them away.
Two bombs exploded in Ambon on Sunday in what a police officer described as
"efforts to provoke the population."
Five people were injured in a blast in the mainly Christian village of Halong Baru and
two of them were Monday still being treated in hospital, medical staff said. The
second bomb in a Muslim area caused no injuries.
Ambon was ravaged by three years of Muslim-Christian clashes which killed more
than 5,000 people before a February 2002 peace pact went into force.
On Saturday President Megawati Soekarnoputri paid a brief visit to the city and
promised to deal firmly with separatist supporters.
The latest violence broke out on April 25 after a banned parade by members of a
mainly Christian separatist group.
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