Religious Violence Worsens in Eastern
Indonesia
AP
11-MAR-99
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Religious violence on
riot-torn Ambon Island claimed
more victims after outnumbered troops opened fire on
Muslim and Christian mobs
fighting each other with spears, knives and gasoline
bombs.
The violence flared late Wednesday and residents said
security forces continued to
fire shots early this morning.
"We heard shots before dawn. Two neighbors were wounded
by gunfire. Another
was stabbed," said resident Una Noya in a telephone
interview.
The latest killings triggered a new series of protests by
Muslims in other parts of
Indonesia. There are fears that religious strife might
spread.
Military officials were not immediately available for
comment today amid conflicting
reports on casualty numbers.
The newspaper Kompas said 10 people were killed in Ambon.
The Jakarta Post
newspaper said seven died and quoted a nurse at a local
hospital as saying at least
30 people were wounded.
Police declined to say how many were killed. Earlier they
said one man had died
and Christian church officials said three had been
killed.
Dozens of houses were set on fire in the city, 1,400
miles east of Jakarta, when
clashes among rival gangs erupted in six places around
the city, police said.
Fierce fighting among Muslims and Christians erupted in
Ambon on Jan. 19. Since
then violence has spread to five neighboring islands and
has left more than 200
people dead in Maluku province.
About 90 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are
Muslim, making it the most
populous Islamic nation. However, parts of Maluku, known
in Dutch colonial times
as the Spice Islands, have large Christian populations.
The religious clashes continue as Indonesia grapples with
rising political and social
tensions fueled by its worst economic crisis in 30 years.
Some analysts fear religious strife could threaten a push
for greater democracy for
Indonesia, which is preparing to hold its most open
parliamentary election since
1955 on June 7.
Today, President B.J. Habibie downplayed the threat of
rising instability and said
the large number of political parties that are contesting
the election was a sign of
greater democracy.
On neighboring Sulawesi Island today, thousands of
Islamic students marched
through the streets of Ujung Pandang city and warned of
the possibility of retaliation
against the Christian minority there.
