Indonesian Muslim and Christian groups are expected to sign a truce today during talks aimed at halting three years of violence in the eastern spice islands, the official Antara news agency reported.
Both sides yesterday separately assured mediators at the state-sponsored talks in the hilltown of Malino in South Sulawesi province they wanted to stop fighting in the Moluccas island chain that has killed at least 5,000 people, Antara said.
Chief Social Welfare Minister Mr Jusuf Kalla, who is co-ordinating the talks, said he expected a truce would be signed even though both sides had many grievances.
"No more detailed matters will be discussed because the core of this meeting has been settled," Mr Kalla was quoted by Antara as saying late last night. The two sides will meet face-to-face today.
Indonesia has struggled to control communal violence along its outer reaches since former President Suharto stepped down in 1998, although there have been few major clashes in the Moluccas since Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri took power last July.
Around 85 per cent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim, but Christians make up roughly half of the population in some eastern areas.