DATE=6/20/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA / VIOLENCE (L)
NUMBER=2-263559
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The scope of bloodshed continues to widen
in Indonesia's eastern Maluku Province, with at
least 114 people killed and 70 9others injured in
clashes between Christians and Muslims. As
Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta, the violence
erupted at the site of some of the worst clashes
in recent months.
TEXT: Church officials in Maluku Province say the
violence erupted Monday when Muslim mobs attacked
a Christian village to force more than two
thousand people out of their homes and refugee
shelters. Almost 300 houses were burnt down.
Some victims were killed by gunfire. Others were
killed by home made bombs or bow and arrows.
Indonesia's state news agency says the clashes
erupted at Duna, on the island of Halmahera --
roughly 26 hundred kilometers east of the
Indonesian capital Jakarta.
Halmahera has been the site of at least two other
violent incidents in recent weeks, claiming more
than 75 lives. Officials say an extremist Muslim
group called "The Holy War Force" launched
attacks on Christian villages.
The shadowy organization pledged in April to
carry out a holy war in Maluku in support of the
province's Muslim community. So far it remains
unclear whether group was involved in Monday's
incident.
Human rights workers say thousands of people have
died in more than one year of fighting between
Maluku's Muslim and Christian communities. The
violence prompted international aid-workers to
withdraw from the province.
The violence has also prompted pleas by some
Christian groups for the United Nations to send
peacekeepers to Maluku to stop the violence.
Maluku is one of the provinces the worst affected
by sectarian clashes since the resignation of
former President Suharto two years ago. Analysts
say the end of Mr. Suharto's authoritarian rule
has led to increased sectarian fighting across
the country because of the lack of a control by a
strong central government. (signed)
NEB/HK/PN/GC/ WD
20-Jun-2000 01:10 AM EDT (20-Jun-2000 0510 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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