DAILY CATHOLIC TUESDAY March 9, 1999 vol. 10, no. 47
NEWS & VIEWS |
RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE SPREADS IN INDONESIA AS EAST TIMOR BISHOP WELCOMES US CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL PRESENCEJAKARTA (CWNews.com) - A mainly Muslim mob attacked an ethnic Chinese neighborhood in West Java on Sunday in anger over reports that Catholic services were being held there.The riot broke out in Bandung, the West Java capital, when about 500 people started attacking homes and a shop in the Chinese neighborhood. Witnesses said the mob was angry over the use of the residential complex as a place of Christian worship. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world, while most of the small, ethnic Chinese minority is Catholic. Religious and ethnic tensions in Indonesia have exploded in recent months with more than 200 people killed in the Spice Islands city of Ambon since December. At least four people were killed and 11 severely wounded in new clashes in Ambon, where there is a large Catholic population, on Monday. On Sunday, more than 100,000 Muslims marched through Jakarta to protest the military's failure to stop the Ambon violence and promising a holy war. From Christchurch, New Zealand, Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Carlos Belo of Dili, East Timor said on Monday he completely supported the call by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for an international presence in his country. He said he also shared her concerns regarding the arming by the Indonesian military of pro-Indonesia East Timorese. "The future prosperity of East Timor depends so much on a peaceful resolution to this conflict," the bishop said. "It is vital that all sides surrender their guns so that we can begin the process of dialogue." Bishop Belo, who was at the end of a three-week visit to Australia and New Zealand, said he was very encouraged by offers of support he had received from both the Australian and New Zealand governments.
"It is reassuring to hear that the governments of New
Zealand, Australia, and the United States have given their
support to an international presence in East Timor," he
said. "We must do everything we can to avoid further
bloodshed."
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