Army role in Moluccas violence probed

The Indonesian army says it is sending a fact-finding team to the troubled Moluccas islands to investigate the alleged involvement of security personnel in violence between Muslims and Christians.

Fourteen police and army personnel have reportedly been arrested for suspected involvement in an attack by a Muslim mob on a security post in the city of Ambon on Monday.

At least ten people died in the exchange of fire between security forces and the attackers, which lasted for several hours.

Reports say the attackers had been angered by the deaths of fellow Muslims.

The Indonesian army has been dogged by allegations that soldiers have behaved in a partisan manner in the Moluccas islands.

Thousands of people have died and many more have been forced to flee since the trouble first broke out over small communal problems in January 1999.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service