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Sulawesi
Executive Summary
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Indonesia's fourth largest island, Sulawesi, is comprised of four separate peninsula provinces: South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi. For decades, Muslims and Christians coexisted peacefully throughout Sulawesi, a large and impoverished island. However, in the past three years, the Poso district and surrounding areas in the province of Central Sulawesi, have been periodically shaken by brutal religious violence between the Christian and Muslim communities. This has resulted in thousands of deaths and the creation of a refugee population close to 50,000. With the flare-up in the violence in November and December 2001, the government has begun to take steps to end the conflict. Additional security troops were called in to bring an immediate halt to the violence. In an attempt to bring about a long-term solution, the parties of the conflict met in December 2001 in government-sponsored peace talks. The result was a peace agreement, known as the Malino Declaration, signed by both parties. However, it remains to be seen whether the declaration marks an end to the conflict.
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