Jakarta – Indonesian police were yesterday hunting a gunman following the murder of a woman priest in a packed church in Central Sulawesi province.

Sunday's attack in Palu town was the latest in a series by suspected Islamic extremists on Christian targets in the province.

Officials said the aim was to trigger off a new round of Muslim-Christian battles after up to 1,000 people died in parts of the province between 2000 and 2001.

Witnesses of the attack at the Effata Presbyterian Church described the killer as well-trained and unhurried.

Churchwarden Hontiles Mangindala told the state Antara news agency that the attacker first tried to shoot a security guard but missed and then fired a volley through the open main doors.

Woman priest Susianti Tinulele, who was giving a sermon, was shot in the head and died on the spot. Four people were wounded, one of them critically. Worshipper Tiok Noersoelistiyo said the killer then walked calmly to a waiting motorcycle.

Indonesian church leaders, who attended a meeting with President Megawati Sukarnoputri in Jakarta, said she urged Christians to stay calm.

Condemnation also came from Central Sulawesi's Indonesian Ulema Council chairman S. Saggaf Aljufrie who called for a meeting to prevent the situation from worsening.