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A banner at the airstrip on Ambon, a tiny dot in Indonesia's Maluku island chain, quotes passages from both the Christian Bible and the Muslim Koran calling for peace.

Look into the charred face of Frendy Nunemete, however, and you will see that peace is a concept far from being realized here in the cradle of the Spice Islands, where Muslim-Christian battles have raged for nearly two years.

The assault on his Christian village happened quickly June 15. The village's defenders were immediately overrun by attackers wielding automatic weapons, mortar rounds, and grenades.

As his brother fell dead from a gunshot, Nunemete climbed onto a roof to hide. The attackers searched for him below, then tossed grenades into the house and set it afire. To escape the flames, Nunemete dove into a large container of water, which soon became unbearably hot. As he climbed out and tried to lunge through the blaze, heat and fire consumed his flesh.

Nunemete's burned scalp is wrapped in gauze. Pink, puffy, scarred flesh roughly resembles a face, most of which is burned away. Gauze covers the cavity, which once was a nose. His ears are charred, his eyes swollen and red—with no eyelids to protect them. He can barely speak through a mangled mouth and swollen lips.

"I don't know why they did this," he rasped. "I don't understand why we are being killed. I'm just thankful to God that I am still alive."

His response echoes among many in the communities of Ambon, where the majority of the population historically has been Christian in an overwhelmingly Muslim nation. A battle has raged here for two years. Muslim and Christian communities that coexisted peacefully for generations now stand divided by sandbags and barbed wire barricades in the road—and blood on the ground.

Explanations are few, and blame is rampant.

Outwardly, the world hears of Christians being slaughtered by their Muslim neighbors. A religious "cleansing," some say. But by whose authority?

In early 1999, a dispute between a Christian and a Muslim sparked riots on Ambon. Some allege the incident was a tripwire that perhaps was planned. Soon after, Christians charge, militant Muslim leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, issued a call to arms for Muslims to "protect their brethren from Christian suppression."

Muslim jihad (holy war) forces poured into the Malukus by boat, ferry and plane with shipments of arms and munitions to fuel their cause—and support from elements of the Indonesian military. Attacks on Christian communities commenced, sparking killings and retaliation by both sides. Thousands have died and hundreds of churches and mosques have been reported destroyed in the islands in the months since.

"The jihad Muslim has gone through special rites and ceremonies that supposedly give them protection from harm," explained an Ambonese pastor. "Dying in jihad gives them an automatic entrance into heaven."

The influx of armed outsiders has put regional government leaders in a difficult position.

"We've taken a passive approach because these jihad Muslims came here to help their Muslim brothers [rebuild]," said Saleh Latuconsina, governor of Ambon and the Maluku Islands, in his first-ever interview with foreign correspondents. "Only about 10 percent of them have been militant."

The governor, a Muslim, said "cracking down on the people who are organizing this would be counterproductive and would make the situation worse."

Is the conflict a religious war? "No, no," Latuconsina insisted, pointing at his cabinet staff, which includes Vice-governor Paula B. Renyaan, a Christian. "I'm asking the religious leaders to look inward at the false teaching that has led to this. The easy way out is to blame it on religion."

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November 13 2000, Vol. 44, No. 13