Gen. Zainuri Hasyim as saying the army would dispatch more troops if violence broke out again in the next few days. The fighting started after a dispute over the payment of a bus fare but local leaders say there are long-standing rivalries among the different ethnic groups. Ethnic Malays make up 40 percent of the population of West Kalimantan province. Madurese make up some two percent and most arrived under a government scheme to resettle people from more crowded islands. Both Malays and Madurese are predominantly Muslim.
Local tribes are mostly Christian.
Waves of bloody riots and unrest have convulsed Indonesia, a country with around 300 different ethnic groups, as it grapples with its worst political and economic crisis in decades. The worst violence in recent months has been on the spice island of Ambon in eastern Indonesia where more than 200 people have been killed in fighting between Christians and Muslims. On Saturday, thousands of Muslims demonstrated in Ambon City accusing a local military commander of siding with the region's Christian community during recent religious riots. Soldiers prevented the group from entering the compound, but allowed it to submit a statement that was delivered to the commander, Col. Karel Kalahalo, who is Christian. Gen. Suadi Marasabesy, a military official who was sent to Ambon to lead efforts to control the violence, left the compound to talk with the protesters and promise to study their petition.