DATE=4/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA / MALUKU / VIOLENCE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261647
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: At least four people are dead and 18
injured in a fresh outbreak of violence in
Indonesia's Maluku province. As we hear from
Patricia Nunan in Jakarta, the unrest comes on
the eve of a visit to Maluku province by the vice
president of Indonesia, Megawati Sukarnoputri.
TEXT: Indonesia's state news agency says at
least three Muslims and one Christian were killed
in violence that erupted in the town of Mashohi
on the island of Seram -- some 26-hundred
kilometers east of the Indonesian capital
Jakarta. Two houses are also reported to have
been burned to the ground.
So far, little is known about the exact cause of
the unrest.
A home-made bomb is also reported to have damaged
a bus being prepared for the planned visit
Tuesday by Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
The bomb injured one military official.
Vice President Megawati is expected to visit
Maluku's provincial capital, Ambon, before
setting out for the town of Masohi by boat -- a
trip of roughly two and one half-hours.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid gave Ms.
Megawati the task of working to restore peace in
Maluku province when the pair took office in
October. The vice president has made two visits
to the province since then, under tight security.
Both times, violence temporarily worsened in the
days surrounding the vice president's visit.
Human rights groups estimate that, since January
1999, more than two thousand people have been
killed in clashes between Muslims and Christians
in Maluku province.
The exact origin of the violence is the source of
some speculation. Some analysts say Indonesia's
economic crisis has pushed tensions between the
province's Muslims and Christians past the
breaking point.
Others, including Indonesian President
Abdurrahman Wahid, have publicly theorized that
the violence is being manipulated by an unknown
group of provocateurs who have links to the
Indonesian military. According to that theory,
the violence makes Indonesia's civilian
administration look weak - thereby justifying the
military's continued role in national politics.
But no evidence of military provocation of the
violence has ever been found.
A third theory blames the violence on a decision
last October by the Jakarta government to split
Maluku province into two smaller provinces.
According to this theory, the split has led to
fighting over who will be in charge of the new
province of North Maluku.
NEB/PN/FC/KL
24-Apr-2000 04:54 AM EDT (24-Apr-2000 0854 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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