Jakarta - Feuding Muslims and Christians agreed at talks yesterday to halt three years of religious clashes on Indonesia's eastern Sulawesi island, a pact officials want to be a model for solving other conflicts.
"The meeting went smoothly and there was a strong (push) to achieve peace from both sides ... Both parties agreed to mutual forgiveness," said Mr Din Syamsuddin, a senior Islamic leader from Jakarta and a mediator at the two-day talks. The peace deal follows four failed attempts to halt brutal violence that has killed more than 1,000 people around the town of Poso in Central Sulawesi province, part of the communal unrest that has haunted Indonesia's outer reaches in recent years.