AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Wednesday November 21, 2001
Riot-torn Ambon turns into ghost town as Christians observe
days of mourning
JAKARTA, Nov 21 (AFP) - Streets, offices and schools were deserted in Indonesia's
city of Ambon on Wednesday as Christians stayed home or prayed in churches to
observe three days of mourning following almost three years of bloody clashes
between Muslims and Christians.
"Almost all activities have ground to a halt: education, government, transport," said
Sammy Weileruni, a church lawyer in the capital of the Maluku islands.
More than 5,000 people have died in the unrest, which broke out in January 1999.
"Church leaders have called their congregations to reflect, to stop laying the blame for
the violence," he added, adding that Protestants and Catholics alike prayed in the
same churches.
But he said security personnel and hospital staff remained on duty.
No vehicles except those of security patrols were seen on the city streets, the state
Antara news agency reported.
Weileruni said the Christian community believed the unrest was God's punishment for
their misdeeds.
"All parties have left no stone unturned to stop the unrest but failed. We have come to
realize that this violence can only be stopped by divine intervention," he said.
He said the observance of days of mourning, which started on Tuesday, had received
approval from the civil emergency authorities. Civil emergency rule was imposed last
year in the Malukus in a bid to halt the unrest.
Last week gunmen in a speedboat shot dead three passengers in another boat in the
latest vioolence to hit Ambon. Two bombs killed two people and injured 20 others in
the city a day earlier. tn/sm/th
Copyright © 2001 AFP. All rights reserved.
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