The Indonesian government denied accusations of a conspiracy to oust Shiite Muslims from the conflict-prone district of Sampang, Madura Island, following the forced relocation of 162 Shia refugees displaced by a wave of sectarian violence to low-cost apartments in Sidoarjo, East Java.

"There's no conspiracy," the National Police's Brig. Gen. Damisnur, an assistant of social harmony at the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal and Security Affairs, told the state-run Antara News Agency.

On June 20, a crowd of angry Sunni Muslims amassed outside the sports center following a large outdoor prayer where prominent Sunni Islam preachers decried the Shia as "heretics" before storming over to the nearby center. The crowd confronted Iklil Al Milal, a local Shia leader, and demanded the group leave the island. Local police then loaded the community onto waiting buses and trucks and drove them out of town, according to a statement by the People's Anti-Violence Network (Jamak).

It was the second forced eviction suffered by the Sampang Shia in less than a year, and a clear example of collusion between Sunni leaders and the local administration, said Akhol Firdaus, of Jamak.

Damisnur denied the allegations on Friday, claiming that the Shiite Muslims were moved to Sidoarjo for their own safety. The community now has a better place to live, he added.

The ministry plans to gather representatives from the two groups in a meeting with government officials.

The issue in Sampang, Rudi Setiadi, head of the Board of National Unity for Sampang District, is a lack of education and religious tolerance. The board will take steps to promote understanding among the island's two Muslim groups. "We will promote tolerance in the society," Rudi said.

Indonesian officials have repeatedly refused to classify the violence in Sampang as religiously motivated, claiming, instead, that it stemmed from a long-standing dispute between two brothers, one Sunni, one Shia, over a woman.

Rois Al-Hukama, a prominent figure in the local Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), reportedly delivered an anti-Shiite screed over a loudspeaker before the mob attack Shia villages. He was acquitted of all charges on April 16 by the Surabaya District Court.