Chronology of major incidents and peace efforts in Maluku

Jan. 19, 1999: The beating of a Christian passenger by a group of bus crew members in Batu Merah in Ambon triggers a mass brawl.

March 9, 1999: A military special team meets the reconciliation team, both agreeing that building a feeling of security is an initial steps toward peace.

April 8, 1999: A humanitarian team consisting of 18 Ambonese and Jakartan descendants from southeast Maluku is sent to riot locations.

May 12, 1999: Religious leaders, community and traditional leaders, youth figures and organization leaders sign a peace declaration at the Merdeka Field in Ambon.

Dec. 3, 1999: National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi meets with 60 Ambonese community leaders living in Jakarta. The meeting agrees to form an Ambon Peace Task Force that will be sent to Ambon.

Dec. 26, 1999: The pivotal, major unrest known as "Bloody Christmas", breaks out.

Jan. 25, 2000: Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri says, during her visit to Maluku, that the government will be held responsible for all incidents in the continuing conflict.

Feb. 22, 2000: Former Dutch prime minister Ruud Lubbers leads a reconciliation meeting for Maluku at the Clingendael Institute, a research institute under the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Dutch government also donates 10 million guilders (Rp 35 billion) as emergency funds for the victims of the conflict.

April 24, 2000: At least 900 people comprising of local elite, religious and community leaders launch a reconciliation effort aboard the Indonesian Navy's KRI Arun warship.

June 23, 2000: The elite Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob), based in Tantui near Ambon, is attacked on land and sea by rioters and rogue officers. Brimob deputy chief Maj. Edi Susanto is shot dead.

June 26, 2000: President Abdurrahman Wahid imposes a state of civil emergency effective at midnight that day in neighboring Maluku and North Maluku provinces. The state of emergency, based on Presidential Decree (Kepres) No. 88/2000, can be rescinded depending on the security situation.

July 1, 2000: Armed rioters are involved in the mass attack and burning of the three neighboring villages of Poka, Rumah Tiga and Waai for three consecutive days. Waai village is eventually razed to the ground on July 6, 2001.

July 3, 2000: Rioters burn and destroy the 30-hectare Pattimura University compound, including the port, gymnasium, library, place of worship and all facilities, causing some Rp 500 billion in material losses in Ambon.

Dec. 8, 2000: Around 200 of Maluku's Muslim and Christian leaders meet in Yogyakarta to explore the possibility of reaching a reconciliation in riot-hit areas in Maluku. They agree to hold dialogs and establish peace zones (baku bae) in Ambon.

December, 2001: A series of bombings and shootings target, among other things, MV Kalifornia and a speedboat in Ambon Bay in which some 50 people are killed.

Dec. 31, 2001: Coordinating Minister for Peoples' Welfare Jusuf Kalla says he hopes that sectarian conflict can be solved soon. A team formed to help solve the dispute will start working soon.

Jan. 8, 2002: Jusuf Kalla said he is optimistic that the prolonged conflict can be solved through a Malino-like meeting for the Poso dispute. His office and the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs approach the warring parties before facilitating the meeting.

Jan. 17, 2002: Ambon Mayor Yopy Papilaya and legislative council speaker Lucky Wattimury meet House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung and ask the House to urge the government to seriously solve the conflict.

Jan. 25, 2002: Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono states that North Maluku province will be returned to normal civil status.

Jan. 26, 2002: Susilo says that in previous meetings the Maluku people showed that they were eager to see the government acting to restore security and enforce the law fairly.

Jan. 30, 2002: Representatives of the warring parties attend a preliminary meeting held in Makassar. The result of this meeting will be discussed further in a grand meeting in Malino, Gowa regency, South Sulawesi to be held from Feb. 5 to Feb. 7.

Jan. 31, 2002: Dissemination of the peace effort to the two warring parties is very necessary for a far-reaching solution to the conflict. Delegations of the two parties still approach their own groups.

Feb. 10, 2002: Jusuf Kalla says the Maluku conflict must be stopped. There is no alternative but to end the dispute and let Ambon return to peace, he says.

Feb. 12, 2002: Rival Maluku groups sign a peace accord that may end the three- year sectarian conflict that has claimed more than 6,000 lives and displaced 70,000 others.