Vaudine England, Jakarta – The political elite is using religion to incite conflicts to suit its own ends, according to Indonesia's Religious Affairs Minister Tolchah Hasan.

He said incidents such as last week's burning of a Christian compound might be part of a wider pattern, loosely described as "bringing Ambon to Jakarta".

Fighting between Muslims and Christians on Ambon has killed almost 1,000 people this year, with many blaming the violence on "outside forces" or "provocateurs".

"The Government wants this Ramadan fasting month, Christmas and the Hindu Galungan [January 5] to become the right moment to contemplate and to introspect for the sake of brotherhood among the religious communities," Mr Tolchah said. "The Ambon violence is the best example of political conspiracy in which religion has been misused, while common people have been victimised." Eleven people have been killed and 24 injured in Ambon in three days.

In Jakarta, one person was killed and a dozen injured during the well-organised destruction of a Christian complex, Wisma Doulos, which housed a drug rehabilitation centre and a divinity school.

Last month another "throng of unidentified men", as local reports put it, set fire to a church in Depok, South Jakarta.

In both incidents, officials sought to downplay the religious aspect of the attacks, yet in each case comments by leaders of the small but bold Front for Protectors of Islam implied their group's involvement.

This is the same group which last week occupied Jakarta city administration offices for a day and succeeded in forcing Governor Sutiyoso to reverse an earlier decision and rule that all nightspots, restaurants and entertainment places must be closed for Ramadan.

Meanwhile, at least two large prostitution complexes have been closed by authorities recently, and a small brothel was attacked by residents in Tangerang.

Some of these incidents are straightforward business quarrels that are carried out under the guise of Ramadan-inspired purity, but the attacks on religious properties appear to be part of a different pattern.