Indonesia withdraws troops from Molacca Islands

The command of the Indonesian army says it is withdrawing troops from the Malacca Islands following what seems to be an end of the Muslim-Christian unrest there which has claimed thousands of lives for the past 2 years. The number of soldiers stationed in the islands is to be reduced from 7,000 to 1,500, the troops withdrawal taking place in stages, a military spokesman is quoted as saying by RIA Novosti. The deadline of the troops withdrawal is not revealed. Analysts mention a considerable progress being reached in the mutual understanding between the authorities and the warring parties. At the same time, the unrest in the Malacca Islands is thought to be of a cyclical nature, both parties retaining fairly large squadrons of fanatics.