wfn.org | [WCC NEWS] Malukus: Indonesian government has to end violence

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches 7 News flash
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 07/05/2004 - nf-04-03

 WCC calls Indonesian government to end violence in Malukus

 The WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, has called on
the
 Indonesian Government to "take immediate steps to put an end to
the
 violence in the Malukus".

 In a 5 May letter to the president, Megawati Soekarnoputri,
made public
 today, he supported a similar call from the local Protestant
and Roman
 Catholic Church representatives in the face of "the outbreak of
violence
 and conflict between Muslims and Christians in the Malukus
region since 25
 April".

 WCC member churches in the region have consistently striven for
peace and
 reconciliation between the two communities and have promoted
 inter-religious dialogue. "It is important that these efforts
do not
 suffer a set-back because of actions of a few extremists on
both sides of
 the religious divide," wrote Kobia.

 He expressed particular concern about the attacks and acts of
arson at the
 Indonesian Christian University in Malukus. Almost 40 people
are reported
 to have lost their lives as a result of the ongoing violence
there. "Much
 of the damage and spread of violence could have been avoided if
the
 Indonesian security forces* had taken timely action," Kobia
suggested.

 The full text of the letter is available at:
 http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/malukus.html 

For more information contact:
	 Media Relations Office
 tel: (+41 22) 791 64 21 / (+41 22) 791 61 53
 e-mail:media@wcc-coe.org 
 http://www.wcc-coe.org 

 The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
342, in
 more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all
Christian
 traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church
but works
 cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the
assembly,
 which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was
formally
 inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is
headed by
 general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in
Kenya.