Christians and Muslims used to live peacefully together in the region once called the Spice Islands.
But in January 1999 violence erupted between the two communities, sparked by a minor traffic accident in the main city of Ambon.
The deeper causes lay in economic, demographic and political factors. An influx of Muslim settlers took over trade previously controlled by Christians and a new system for appointing village heads was also said to favour Muslims.
There were external factors too, with gangs in Jakarta accused of stirring up antagonism among Christians. Members of a militant Islamic group based in Java, the Laskar Jihad, arrived in the island in mid-2000 to lead the Muslim attack.
The two communities agreed a peace deal in February 2002.
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