CNN, January 28, 2002 Posted: 3:04 PM HKT (0704 GMT)
Violence greets Indonesia peace tour
January 28, 2002 Posted: 3:04 PM HKT (0704 GMT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Explosions and gunfire in the Indonesian city of Ambon
was the only response to follow a visit by a government minister to evaluate peace
efforts between Christians and Muslims.
No deaths or injuries were reported during Sunday's violence.
Fighting also flared in the northern province of Aceh on Saturday, when four separatist
insurgents were killed.
The Indonesian Red Cross also found three unidentified bodies Saturday in Aceh,
bringing the death toll in the restive province to more than 100 this year.
In Ambon, local police officer Max Donal said the bomb blasts occurred about
midnight, shortly after top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and senior
welfare minister Jusuf Kalla ended their Saturday visit.
Fighting between Muslims and Christians in the eastern city erupted in January 1999,
then widened to the surrounding islands of Maluku. More than 5,000 people have died
in the clashes.
Both sides say conflict is fanned by the paramilitary Islamic group Laskar Jihad,
which is based on Indonesia's main island of Java. In May 2000, large numbers of
militants began arriving in Maluku, about 1,600 miles northeast of Jakarta.
Indonesian troops last Wednesday shot and killed the military commander of the
separatist Free Aceh Movement, Abdullah Syafei, in a raid on his jungle base.
During his weekend visit, security chief Yudhoyono said the government was
committed to fostering dialogue between the two groups and drafting a peace plan.
© 2001 Cable News Network LP, LLLP
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