INDONESIA: CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM VIOLENCE скачать в хорошем качестве

INDONESIA: CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM VIOLENCE

(17 May 2000) Natural Sound XFA Thirteen people have reportedly been killed and a dozen others injured as fresh fighting between Muslims and Christians erupted on Tuesday and Wednesday in the eastern Indonesian town of Ambon. The civilians who died in the latest clashes were predominantly Muslim. This latest flare up is part of an ongoing conflict which has wracked the region for 16 months. The violence, sparked by old rivalries centering around religious sectarianism, has been intensified by new fears for jobs and local customs due to a recent influx of Muslims. Tensions have again flared in the troubled province of Ambon in Indonesia. The latest conflict was allegedly provoked by the Christian minority community but trouble intensified when the Muslim population responded. At least 13 people were killed as street fighting continued on Tuesday and Wednesday. Most of the dead were Muslims, said Malik Selang, an official at the main mosque of Al Fatah. All were shot by gunmen or security officers trying to disperse the mobs, he said. At least one Christian also died in Wednesday's clashes, witnesses said. Ambon, about 2,300 kilometers (1,450 miles) east of Jakarta, is the capital of Maluku province. This latest violence erupted in the neighbourhoods of Mardika and Batu Merah, where the sectarian fighting began in January last year. A local army commander, Irwan Kusnadi, was shot in the cheek during Wednesday's clashes, a military spokesman said. The strife is fueled by old rivalries and more recent complaints by Christians that Muslim newcomers from other parts of Indonesia have been taking their jobs and are not respecting local customs. It was not immediately clear whether Islamic militants who have poured into the region in recent weeks had taken part in the fighting. Muslim militants continue to pour into the region despite the efforts of authorities to stop them. Many Islamic militants want a holy war against the country's Christian minority, which can but hope for an end to the tense situation. The Jakarta Post reported that the fighters, known as the Laskar Jihad, or holy warriors, have been arriving by ships from the port of Surabaya in Eastern Java, Indonesia's main island. It said between up to 2,200 militants had arrived in the Malukus. The group's leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, told a rally last month that he planned to send thousands of volunteers to fight on the Muslim side in the conflict. More than 2,500 people have been killed in 16 months of sectarian clashes in Maluku and neighbouring North Maluku, collectively known as the Spice Islands, or Moluccas, during Dutch colonial rule. The latest outbreak came after a sharp drop in sectarian violence during the past six weeks. Inter-communal fighting had abated significantly in April - when a dozen deaths were recorded - and the first half of May. The administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid had predicted that the conflict would peter out during the first half of this year. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...