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Four die in religious violence
on Indonesia's Maluku islands
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THE
STAR
Sunday,
September 08, 2002
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Four die in religious violence
on Indonesia's Maluku islands
JAKARTA, Indonesia: Unidentified
gunmen on Sunday shot and killed three Muslim women on a beach in
Indonesia's Maluku province, triggering a riot in the provincial
capital that killed a Christian.
The violence is the latest in a
series of bloody incidents in the region between Muslims and
Christians that have rendered a February peace accord largely
meaningless.
The three women were apparently
washing in the sea when they were shot on the island of Saparua,
police Lt. Edi Watimena told The Associated Press from the
provincial capital, Ambon.
Watimena declined to comment on
initial military reports the victims had been decapitated.
Apparently in reaction to the news,
a Muslim mob torched a minivan carrying Christians in Ambon, said
Watimena. One person was burnt to death and two others injured
before police dispersed the rioters, he said.
Maluku, about 2,600 kilometers
(1,600 miles) east of Jakarta, has been wracked by three years of
fighting between Christians and Muslims. Up to 9,000 people have
been killed.
Despite initial hopes, the February
peace accord has failed to stop the violence. The province's
Christian and Muslim populations, which are roughly equal, now
live in separate communities. Last week, a bomb exploded in Ambon,
killing four children.
Saparua island, about 100
kilometers (60 miles) east of Ambon, has both Christian and Muslim
villages. It has seen some of the worst of the conflict.
Maluku, an archipelago, was known
as the Spice Islands during Dutch colonial times. - AP
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