INDONESIAN CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM FIGHTING INTENSIFIES

AMBON, Indonesia (CWNews.com) - New fighting between Christian and Muslim gangs in Indonesia's Malukus region intensified on Saturday, pushing foreign aid workers to evacuate.

Three Muslims and a Christian were killed near the airport on Saturday, adding to the thousands killed in the past seventeen months. The region had been relatively quiet until earlier this month when more than 2,000 Islamic volunteer fighters belonging to an extremist paramilitary group entered the area to wage a holy war, despite government pledges to keep them out.

Because of the increasingly unpredictable situation, two aid groups, Medecins Sans Frontieres, and Action Against Hunger, pulled about 10 members out of the city.

Although Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, the Malukus have a Christian majority, from its days as a Portuguese colony.

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