Christians facing genocide in Moluccas.

Jakarta--The Muslim fundamentalists' "holy war" continues to claim Christian victims in the Indonesian archipelago of the Moluccas, formerly known as the Spice Islands. (See CI, March and October, 2000.) On December 8, 2000, the Australian newspaper Age reported that 93 Christians were slaughtered by Muslim extremists in the first week of December alone. as a result of confrontations provoked primarily by radical Muslims to expel Christians, and more than 400,000 people have been displaced. Well-armed Muslim Jihad (Holy War) warriors, thought to be trained by the Indonesian Army, have succeeded in "cleansing" about 75 percent of the island of Ambon's original Christian population of about 240,000. Most have escaped to other islands.

In some communities, Christians have been forced to convert to Islam, with women being coerced into marrying Muslims, and some Christian men being forcibly circumcised with razor blades. Homes of Christians have been burned, one thousand places of worship including Catholic churches have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of homeless Christians are sleeping rough in the jungle and hills without shelter.

Indonesian President Wahid, who took office over a year ago, seems unable to restore order to his military, who stand by and watch the Jihad destroy. In some cases the military have assisted the Jihad in their murderous campaign. And despite pleas from Catholic and Protestant leaders for emergency aid, Wahid remains silent. His government fears that "foreign intervention will lift the lid on several other ethnic and religious conflicts around the country". The British Barnabas Trust, which, supports persecuted church groups in Muslim countries, says that the Moluccan Christians are facing annihilation: "This is a case of religious cleansing and outright genocide."

Dili, East Timor--Refugees from East Timor who fled to West Timor over a year ago continue to be harassed and even killed by Muslim militants. Some 120,000 individuals continue to live in a hostage-like situation in squalid border camps. Unarmed UN personnel withdrew six months ago, leaving the villagers unprotected and at the mercy of Muslim raiders