Jakarta – Indonesia could face new bloodshed between Christians and Muslims in the Maluku islands ahead of July's national presidential election, an international think-tank warned yesterday.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said the authorities must arrest unidentified snipers who fatally shot most of the 40 people killed and wounded about 200 in riots there last month. Two-thirds of the victims were Muslims.

The killings raised fears of a return to communal mayhem that hit the area three years ago, when up to 9,000 people died.

ICG Asia programme director Robert Templer said the longer last month's murders remain unresolved, 'the greater the chance of a new round of violence in a sensitive place and at a sensitive time for Indonesia's democracy'.

The ICG doubted an Indonesian police finding that radical Muslim groups were behind the shootings.

Unidentified marksmen have featured prominently in many violent incidents in recent Indonesian history. None has ever been arrested, prompting many to speculate that only army snipers could have committed the crimes.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri will make a three-hour visit – her first – to Ambon, the capital of Maluku, on Saturday, officials said yesterday.