Jakarta - Indonesia's President, in power a month, returned from a controversial foreign trip yesterday to the resignation of a top minister linked to graft allegations and fresh communal violence. President Abdurrahman Wahid has been criticised for spending too much time abroad instead of grappling with the mounting problems that threaten to shatter his multi-ethnic country.
The Co-ordinating Welfare Minister, Mr Hamzah Haz, became the first casualty of Mr Wahid's one-month government, though political analysts doubted it would have much impact on his rule.
Meanwhile in Ambon, security forces opened fire during fresh battles between Muslims and Christians in the strife-torn city yesterday, leaving at least 29 dead and more than 120 wounded, the official Antara news agency said.