Military powerless against Moluccas violence

Military officials in Indonesia say they lack the resources to control the communal violence which has flared again in the Moluccan Islands in eastern Indonesia.

A military spokesman in Jakarta Major General Graito Vsodo has told the BBC that more than a-hundred people, mostly Christians, have been killed in a clashes with Muslims on the island of Halmahera.

The spokesman said security forces were trying to provide a buffer between the sides.

But he said they're outnumbered and it's impossible to stop the fighting without the agreement of local people. A foreign ministry spokesman says the government is trying to get reconciliation between the two sides, blaming economic pressures for the violence.

But our correspondent says religious distinctions are a key factor in the tension and there is a risk of the violence spreading. The violence began eighteen months ago and has escalated with the arrival of Muslims threatening a holy war or jihad against local Christians.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service