Maluku Islands, Indonesia: Indonesian Military assists Muslims in religious conflict with Christians

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Indonesian Military assists Muslims in religious conflict with Christians

July 2000

excerpt from Churches lobby for peace in Maluku by Lindsay Murdoch, Sydney Morning Herald Correspondent in Jakarta

The effort to help end the escalating religious war comes as Indonesia's military has admitted some of its troops have sided with Muslim fighters in a conflict that has left more than 3,000 people dead, many more wounded and hundreds of thousands homeless. ...

Mr Haire, a former missionary in the troubled islands, said the situation had become intolerable.

Recent atrocities, he said, included attacks on a ferry carrying 1,500 people, mostly Christians, fleeing the island of Ambon that arrived in West Timor late on Tuesday. The boat had been fired upon and people killed. ...

Calls for foreign intervention intensified this week after television footage showed heavily armed soldiers providing cover for a Muslim attack on Christians. ...

The military is preparing to send another infantry battalion to the Malukus, boosting troop numbers to more than 11,000.

Links to external sites:

Human Rights Watch - what you can do for Maluku province

The Sydney Morning Herald