DATE=12/5/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA - MALUKU VIOLENCE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256854
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=BANDA, ACEH
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: AT least 31 people have been killed in the
latest round of clashes in Indonesia's eastern Maluku
province. As Patricia
Nunan reports, the clash between the region's Muslim
and Christian communities is the latest in a series of
religious disturbances that have claimed at least a
thousand lives in the past year.
Text: Police officials in the provincial capital of
Ambon say the violence broke out when a group of
Muslims attacked a Christian village on the island of
Seram. Rioters used home-made guns and molotov
cocktails -- setting fire to dozens of houses in the
district.
Police officials say Indonesian security forces
immediately moved into quell the violence in the
villages located more than one-thousand, 700
kilometers east of the Indonesian capital Jakarta. But
one local newspaper accused the government of moving
too slowly to contain the violence, leading to the
high number of casualties.
The violence comes on the heels of recent clashes at
the end of November in which 40 people were killed in
the provincial capital of Ambon.
The clashes between the two religious communities
broke out despite a demand made Thursday by Muslim
leaders for an end to the fighting ahead of the
Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan which starts next week,
and Christmas.
Human rights groups say roughly one-thousand people
have died in clashes between the two religious
communities since last January.
Some analysts blame the fighting on Indonesia's
economic crisis, which has highlighted the differences
between the two communities.
Indonesia's National Police Chief says authorities are
planning to form a team of 90 youths from Malaku
province to help end
the violence. General Rosmanadi says the group, to be
called the "Maluku Peace Task Force," will draw up a
declaration to be signed by village chiefs and
Christian and Muslim community leaders to establish
religious harmony. (Signed)
NEB/PN/PLM
05-Dec-1999 07:12 AM EDT (05-Dec-1999 1212 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
