More violence in Moluccan Islands

Clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Moluccan Islands in eastern Indonesia have continued for a third day.

Local residents are quoted as saying that Muslim crowds set fire to a large number of homes in the provincial capital, Ambon.

A church several kilometres outside the city was also burnt down.

The latest violence has claimed more than 20 lives.

The BBC correspondent in Indonesia says the situation has been aggravated by the arrival of about 2,000 militant Muslims, who have pledged to fight a Jihad, or holy war, against the Christians.

Meanwhile, Indonesian police in the western province of Aceh, have shot dead eight suspected separatists.

Police say they were killed in a firefight, but local residents say they were shot in cold blood outside their homes.

The shootings come a week after Indonesia signed a ceasefire agreement with separatist rebels that is due to come into force on June the second.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service