18 Killed in Continuing Religious Violence in Indonesia

New street battles Friday between Christians and Muslims left at least 18 people dead, and Indonesia’s president blamed paid provocateurs for whipping up religious hatred in the riot-torn Molucca Islands.

President Abdurrahman Wahid called for a ban on travel to the Moluccas after Islamic vigilantes from other parts of Indonesia joined in this week’s sectarian violence.

In the provincial capital, Ambon, mobs exchanged gunfire and fought with swords and spears. Others set fire to a Christian university, two mosques and dozens of homes. Blasts from homemade bombs echoed through neighborhoods.

Police feared more bloodshed over the weekend, having reported that rioters broke into a police armory and stole weapons and uniforms two days ago.

Malik Selang, an official at the main Al Fatah mosque, said 10 Muslims were killed Friday in a nearby neighborhood. An official at a local hospital said at least eight Christians were killed and about 180 of both faiths were wounded.

At least 31 people have died in Ambon in the last three days.

On Monday, Muslim fighters killed more than 100 Christians in Duma on Halmahera island. Thousands of Islamic vigilantes from a group known as the Lasker Jihad took part in that attack.

Almost 3,000 people have been killed in fighting in the Moluccas since the conflict started in January 1999. Muslim migrants taking over retail and transport businesses from Christians has fueled animosities.