INDONESIA: JAILOLO: CHRISTIAN/MUSLIM VIOLENCE LATEST

(18 Mar 2000) Indonesian/Nat

Indonesia's Maluku and North Maluku provinces are still in the grip of violence between Christians and Muslims.

In Jailolo town on Halmahera island, where much of the fiercest fighting has taken place, virtually every church and mosque has been destroyed, as well as most of the housing.

The town that once had about 5-thousand inhabitants is now - apart from the military - virtually deserted.

There appears to be no end in sight to the violence that has gripped Indonesia's Maluku and North Maluku provinces, which were known as the Spice Islands during colonial days.

Though the death toll has tapered off, the conflict appears to be far from over.

A community once touted as a model of religious tolerance in multi cultural and multi ethnic Indonesia is split along deep psychological and physical fault lines.

On Friday, the military escorted a reporter into Jailolo town on Halmahera island, where much of the fiercest fighting has taken place.

Apart from dozens of soldiers patrolling the streets and manning road blocks, the town that once had about 5-thousand inhabitants was virtually deserted.

Nearly every mosque and church was destroyed, and about 90-percent of the houses and other buildings were burnt-out shells.

A military officer on Halmahera said his platoon had prevented five major clashes between Christians and Muslims in the past two months.

But he said there was little the armed forces could do to impose peace.

Blood was first spilled 14 months ago after a minor scuffle between a Christian bus driver and his Muslim conductor.

But tensions between the two communities date back to the 15th century, when Dutch, Portuguese and English traders competing for control of the spice trade brought Christianity with them.

In recent years, tension has been partly fueled by the migration into the region of tens of thousands of Muslims, upsetting Christians who worry about becoming a minority in one of the few places in Indonesia where they are a majority.

About 90 percent of Indonesia's 210 million (m) people are Muslim.

Previous efforts at peace have come to nothing.

Last May, the two sides signed a peace accord, but fighting broke out two days later.

In December, President Abdurrahman Wahid visited the region and told residents they had to find peace themselves rather than look to the central government for answers.

New fighting erupted the next day.

No one really knows precisely how many people are being killed daily or what is really happening on many of the 1,000 islands in the far-flung archipelago.

Some are simply too dangerous to visit.

Hundreds of thousands of people are in refugee camps across the archipelago, and there appears little hope for reconciliation between the Christian and Muslim communities.

Refugees from both denominations would like to return home, but remain pessimistic.

SOUNDBITE: (Bahasa Indonesia)
"Yes if it is safe we want to go back to Jailolo. If not, we'll stay and if the TNI (Indonesian army) says we can go back then we will, but only if it is safe for us. Until then, we'll stay."
SUPER CAPTION: Farida, Muslim refugee

SOUNDBITE: (Bahasa Indonesia)
"For this conflict to stop I think the (peace) settlement cannot be done here, in this sub-district, but we hope that they can do it in the district and province as we here follow what they do there, and so I think the settlement should come from the top down."
SUPER CAPTION: Rachman, Muslim refugee

SOUNDBITE: (Bahasa Indonesia)
"We just hope for peace. But if that is to happen it should come from local government."

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