20000311

30 die in new religious clashes in Indonesia

JAKARTA: At least 30 people have been killed in two days of fighting between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia's ravaged Moluccas islands, the official news agency Antara reported.

Tens of others were injured in the clashes on Halmahera island, in the northern part of the bloodied spice islands, Antara said in a report late on Thursday.

Fighting erupted on Wednesday and continued on Thursday after several weeks of relative calm on the island, the largest in the Moluccas and scene of many of the worst clashes over the past year.

Officials put the death toll in Muslim-Christian fighting over the last year or so at more than 1,700 people. Human rights groups say thousands have died.-Reuters