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)