Travel ban to Lombok lifted

Travel ban to Lombok lifted

JAKARTA (JP): Four of the seven countries which recently
banned their citizens from traveling to Lombok have lifted the
bans following an improvement in the situation on the island.

The governor of West Nusa Tenggara, Harun Al Rasjid, said on
Saturday the four countries which had lifted their travel bans
were the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Australia.

"We hope the other three countries -- the United States, Italy
and Switzerland -- will soon follow suit as there is no more
reason to be afraid," he told Antara news agency in the
provincial capital of Mataram.

Local and foreign tourists fled Lombok, the main tourist
destination in the province, after religious violence hit Mataram
in the middle of last month.

A number of people were reportedly killed when mobs stoned and
burned churches in the town to protest the government's inability
to end the religious conflict in Maluku, which has resulted in
the deaths of hundreds of Muslims and Christians.(hen)