The commander of the Indonesian armed forces, General Wiranto, says he's sacked the police chief of the Maluku Islands which include Ambon island, which has been hit by sectarian violence.

General Wiranto has also ordered one thousand military reinforcements to the island, where since mid-January over one-hundred-and-fifty people have been killed in clashes between Christians and Moslems. Tens of thousands have fled their homes for neighboroughing provinces. Meanwhil, about two thousand Moslem students demonstrated in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, against what they called ethnic cleansing by Christians and the military on the island of Ambon.

The demonstrators denounced the shooting by troops of two Muslims outside a mosque in Ambon city on Monday.