Fears grow of religious civil war

SNIPERS spread terror across an Indonesian provincial capital yesterday in a fourth day of bloodshed.

Fears are growing that a Muslim-Christian war that killed 9,000 people in the region three years ago could restart.

Gunmen killed two police officers in Ambon and critically wounded a third. Later, a Muslim man died in a bomb blast, bringing the death toll since violence began on Sunday to 36.

The violence underscored the fragility of the Moluccas province, an area known as the Spice Islands during Dutch colonial rule and once held up as a model of religious harmony.

Communal tensions have worsened in recent decades with an influx of Muslims from elsewhere in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

The latest bloodshed in a region where Islamic extremists are trying to gain support adds to the problems of a country facing a presidential election in July.

Snipers and bombers killed one civilian and injured 11 on Tuesday morning, according to local hospital chiefs.

The violence appeared to have been confined to areas south of the city and daily life started to resume elsewhere in the eastern city.

A police spokesman said 36 people, including two policemen hit by snipers, had been killed since a banned parade by Christian separatists sparked bloodshed on Sunday. He said 159 people were injured.

At least 200 homes and many other buildings including the United Nations mission were set ablaze in the Batugantung and Waringin areas southeast of Tanah Lapang Kecil.

The UN has temporarily withdrawn some staff and more than 2,000 Muslims and Christians are reported to have fled their homes.

The Jakarta government has rushed 400 extra paramilitary police and 450 more troops to the city.

Politicians in Jakarta and Christian clergymen and others in Ambon have blamed local police for failing to stop Sunday’s parade, which was seen as provocative to Muslims.