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Article: Indonesia in travail.(recent killings in the Molucca islands could lead to religious warfare)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 15, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The killings in the Moluccas threaten not just the islanders but the prospects of building a tolerant democracy in the country as a whole
WHEN Abdurrahman Wahid became Indonesia's president in October, his most urgent task seemed to be to maintain the integrity of his newly-democratic nation, the fourth most populous in the world. The people of East Timor had voted for independence, inflaming secessionist ambitions in other parts of the vast archipelago, especially in Aceh and Irian Jaya. But it is the recent killings in the Molucca islands which now threaten to tear Indonesia apart, and not through separatism but through religious warfare. The president has the ...