Four die in Indonesia cafe blast

Four people have been killed and three injured in a bomb explosion on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The bomb hit a crowded cafe in the southern town of Palopo, 1,800 kilometres (1,120 miles) north-east of Jakarta at about 2215 (1415 GMT).

Police say they do not know who planted the bomb, which was hidden under a table inside the cafe.

Violence between Christians and Muslims has dogged parts of the island despite a 2001 peace deal.

But officials expressed surprise at the blast, saying that the Palopo area was generally peaceful.

The south of Sulawesi has generally escaped religious violence, which is common in central areas with a high Christian population.

More than 1,000 people died in bloody fighting there in 1999 and 2000.

In October last year, eight Christians were killed by gunmen in the central Poso area in an attack linked with regional Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah.

The group is thought to be responsible for the bombing of two nightclubs on the holiday island of Bali in October 2002, in which 202 people died.

But correspondents say that violence and bombings in Indonesia frequently have political, ethnic and criminal rather than religious motivations.