Sulawesi
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Muslim and Christian Indonesian factions in central Sulawesi says they've have reached agreement to end intercommunal fighting which has claimed more than a-thousand lives over the past three years. Under a deal mediated by the Indonesian government, both sides agreed to start surrendering their weapons this week. Speaking in Jakarta, the Indonesian justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said he hoped the mediation effort could be a model for conflict resolution elsewhere in the country. It's not clear whether the Sulawesi disarmament will also apply to several thousand fighters from the militant Laskar Jihad movement, who have travelled to the area in recent months, and are accused of stirring up the conflict in the region.)
