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Muslims and Christians Sign Pact to End Maluku Clashes VOA News 12 Feb 2002 11:17 UTC 
Rival Christian and Muslims factions in Indonesia's eastern Maluku province have reached an agreement to end three years of sectarian bloodshed.
The accord was signed Tuesday in the resort town of Malino, 1,400 kilometers east of Jakarta, where the two sides held two days of peace talks.
Indonesia's government mediator, Welfare Minister Yusuf Kalla, says both camps were ready to end the bloody conflict that has torn families apart and forced more than half-a-million people to flee the region.
The agreement calls for the creation of two joint commissions, one for security and one for social and economic affairs, to monitor the truce.
The accord also provides for both sides to lay down their arms, bans militias and calls for the internally displaced to return to their homes.
Thousands of people have died in Maluku since bloody clashes erupted in January of 1999.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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