We're trying to be patient and to take stock. We're trying not to provoke. But it's easier said than done. In the end, you react. Christian leaders blame the army for backing the Muslims.
Muslim leaders make the same accusation against the police.
In reality, whatever their dubious role might have been in the past, it's now only the massive presence of 10,000 troops that's keeping a tenuous peace in the city. Nobody here has a monopoly on virtue. Dr. Sudirman Abbas knows that better than most. The Christian's have the city hospital in their sector, and so he's converted a maternity clinic for Muslim use. In the stifling heat, patients suffering wounds from bullets and bombs spill over into the corridor and verandah.