---------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe?, send your mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body mail: "signoff indonews" need more help?, send your mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body mail: "info refcard" ---------------------------------------------------------- Extra security forces sent to Indonesian riot city as death toll hits 17 JAKARTA, Jan 21 (AFP) - Hundreds of extra security forces were deployed Thursday in the eastern island of Ambon following two days of clashes between Moslems and Christians that left at least 17 dead, police said. Police said 150 special forces had arrived to join 400 sent after the troubles erupted on Tuesday. Thousands of people have sought shelter in the police headquarters in Ambon city, capital of Maluku province. An officer at Maluku police headquarters confirmed the 17 death toll to AFP, but added that Ambon appeared calmer on Thursday. The official Antara news agency reported Wednesday that 100 were seriously hurt. The latest unrest to hit Indonesia came as the world's largest Moslem-populated nation marked the two-day Eid al-Fitr festival to end the Ramadan fasting month. Two churches and two mosques were burned by rioters, police said. Mobs also burned at least 45 houses, 75 street stalls, 16 cars, 25 motorcycles and around 100 pedicabs, police said. Two markets and a private Islamic school were also set on fire, Antara said. At Ambon police headquarters, at least 5,000 people had been given temporary shelter in the hall, offices and in tents outside. "More people are still being picked up by security forces to be taken into the headquarters as they have lost their homes," an officer added. Police said the violence was sparked by a criminal act, but degenerated into a riot because it involved an attack on a local by a migrant. A migrant from the South Sulawesi ethnic group of Bugis, had apparently threatened a local bus driver with a knife demanding money. The driver escaped and returned armed with a machete, but the migrant, residing in Batumerah village, alerted friends and went after the driver. Unable to find him in the neighbouring village of Mardika, they burned two houses and a motorcycle garage. Mardika villagers retalliated who went and attacked Batumerah, a predominantly Moslem village, burning several houses. The Maluku police headquarters officer a company of men of the special Mobile Brigade arrived from neighbouring South Sulawesi provincial capital of Ujung Pandang early Thursday. He said more special forces had been promised from Irian Jaya and Dili, capital of East Timor. Since Tuesday, 400 men from the national police had already been deployed, the officer added. He denied a police report on Wednesday that a platoon of special army forces had come from South Sulawesi. President B.J. Habibie cited harmony between Christians and Moslems in Maluku as a model for the country when he made an appeal for religious tolerance last month. if/bs/tw ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 21 Jan 1999 jam 05:28:27 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
