Jakarta – An Indonesian Christian activist claimed Thursday that 46 people had been slaughtered on a small island of the Malukus chain for refusing to convert to Islam.

"We have received reports that on Kaisiui island in the Watubela island group, four Christian hamlets were razed by Muslim attackers from the surrounding islands earlier this week," said Sammy Weileruni, a lawyer with the Maranatha Christian centre. The Watubela islands lie east of the main island of Seram.

He said that eight people were killed in the attacks on Tuesday and that some 3,000 villagers had fled to the forests to escape their attackers. But their attackers, including Muslims from the Gorong island group, pursued the refugees and had captured 671 of them by Wednesday.

"Our report, which was also corroborated by a military intelligence report that we have obtained, said that 46 of those arrested were slaughtered after they refused to be forcibly converted to Islam," Weileruni said.

The rest, he said, cowed by the slaughter, agreed to convert, he added. "There has been no help from the local administration, the police or the military, despite our repeated calls," he said. The spokesman for the military headquarters in Ambon could not be reached for comment.

In Ambon city, the capital of Maluku province, Muslims Thursday took over some 800 houses that had been evacuated by Christian families in the Wayame area, Weileruni said. "The Christian families were told by soldiers this morning to vacate their houses saying that there was an impending mass attack by Muslims on the residential area," he said. The fleeing families were now scattered, sheltering at the houses of friends and relatives in Christian pockets in Ambon, including Kuda Mati, Gudang Arang and the Benteng areas, he said.