John Martinkus, Kupang – Exiled pro-Indonesian East Timorese militiamen are making ends meet by selling their military-supplied weapons to embattled Christians from the riot-torn island of Ambon.

Ambonese Christians say they have been travelling to West Timor to buy handguns and M-16s from pro-Jakarta militia to protect themselves against Muslims. More than 3,000 people have been killed in a year of violence between Muslims and Christians on Ambon.

According to one Christian Ambonese in Kupang, Pauli M, weapons originally obtained from the Indonesian army were easy to find but were getting more expensive. "Last July I paid fifteen million rupiah (3,300) for three M-16's," he said. "Now on this trip it depends on the people here – maybe ten million (2,200) per piece."

Pauli, 30, said East Timorese militiamen now in exile in West Timor after last year's pro-independence vote would do anything for money. "We know that the militia ... have more than 3,000 weapons. That's why we come here. We target them," he said.

One former militia member in Kupang told how he had collected many guns when militiamen were ordered to disarm last December. He handed a fraction of those to the police and kept the rest in his Kupang house, from where he sold them mostly to Ambonese Christians. The guns are smuggled by boat back to Ambon through an Indonesian naval blockade.

Pauli said the guns were necessary for self-defence on Ambon, where the Indonesian army was regarded as backing the island's Muslims. "In the beginning of the fighting in January last year we knew that TNI (army) were not neutral and we knew that our parangs (machetes) were not enough.

"Some of us went to Dili and some went to Jakarta. Jakarta is the best but the security is very tight. Here is more expensive but it is easier to get the weapons back to Ambon," he said.

Pauli said his newly purchased weapons would be rushed to Christian posts around Ambon for use by snipers against the Muslims and their army supporters. He would return to Ambon by a different route.

He said Christian fighters had fewer than 100 automatic weapons. "We realise we don't have much ammunition or weapons but until I die I will never give up. I will fight forever for my religion."