Jakarta - Indonesia has declared a civil emergency in the Moluccas, following six days of clashes between Muslims and Christians, the national police chief said yesterday.
"The civil emergency took effect since yesterday," Gen Rusdihardjo said. "The situation has been. . . quite bad," he said This was the first official word that such an emergency had been declared.
Local Christian and Muslim leaders accuse police and soldiers in the province of bias and incompetence and want them all replaced. "The security forces here are useless - they are either biased or too afraid," a lawyer for the communion of churches in the Moluccas, said. He blamed the latest violence on the arrival of more than 2,000 Muslim hardliners from the main island of Java who have vowed to carry out a jihad or holy war against Christians there.