March 15, 1999
Web posted at: 3:14 a.m. EST (0814 GMT)

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AMBON, Indonesia (CNN) -- People on this violence-racked island who do not surrender their weapons will be shot, senior military officials have warned.

A security crackdown continued Monday, as Ambon tried to recover from a night of violence between Christians and Muslims. Some 15 houses were burned overnight, witnesses said.

Indonesian soldiers with automatic rifles continued to raid homes and search boat passengers for weapons following spates of religious violence which have killed more than 200 people in the last two months.

"We will act firmly in the form of shooting on the spot whether to paralyze or to kill," Colonel Karel Ralahalu, military commander on Ambon, warned at a news conference late Sunday.

"The security apparatus will take the policy of asking the people to surrender their weapons voluntarily at least three times," Ralahalu said. "If they do not want to," soldiers will shoot, he said.

Ambon city appeared calm on Monday, as some schools reopened. Witnesses said the weapons searches were being conducted in six trouble spots around Ambon, 2,300 km (1,440 miles) east of Jakarta.

About a dozen men were arrested on Sunday after they were found with knives and other weapons.

On Saturday, police arrested 37 Muslim men accused of planning a new wave of attacks against Christians. Four homemade bombs and other weapons such as spears, arrows and swords were confiscated.

Over the weekend, the mutilated body of a Christian man was found dumped across the street from the office of a Muslim opposition party in Ambon town. His neck and back had been badly slashed.

Witnesses said a Muslim gang set fire to a Christian home overnight and the flames quickly spread to others owned by people of both religions. There were no reports of injuries.

Last week, tens of thousands of people fought pitched battles in the city center using machetes, knives and Molotov cocktails, killing up to 10 people.

About 90 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim, making it the world's most populous Islamic nation.

However, just over half of Ambon's 311,00 people are Christian.

The religious clashes have escalated as Indonesia struggles with rising social and political tensions fueled by the nation's worst economic crisis in 30 years.

There are fears that sectarian violence could spread across the country ahead of a June 7 parliamentary election. The ballot, the first held since authoritarian President Suharto quit last May, is expected to be the most democratic poll conducted since 1955.

Military authorities also filed charges against a security officer accused of fomenting sectarian rioting in recent weeks.

Ambon's military police chief, Maj. Djuhendi, said the unidentified officer would face trial this week.

More than a dozen other members of the security forces have also been questioned since Muslim leaders accused some of siding with Christians during the violence, which has continued since January.

Thousands of people have fled Ambon, fearing more bloodshed.

Christians prayed Sunday, their day of worship, some in the burned out wrecks of village churches that had been set on fire during the religious clashes.

Many mosques have also burned, along with thousands of homes, stores and other buildings.

"Let's pray that this violence is over and that Christians and Muslims can live in peace again," said Father John Ruhulessin, an Ambonese Roman Catholic priest.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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