BBC News Online: World: Asia-Pacific

Violence erupts in Spice Islands

Reports from Indonesia say three people have been killed in renewed sectarian violence in the Moluccan islands -- shortly after President Abderrahman Wahid visited the region to call for peace.

The official news agency Antara said angry crowds of Muslims and Christians went on the rampage in a village on the central island of Seram, attacking people and burning hundreds of houses.

President Wahid, who visited the provincial capital, Ambon, on Sunday, urged Muslims and Christians to end the clashes which have killed hundreds this year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service