Grenade explodes in Indonesia's Ambon, no casualties

AMBON, Indonesia, May 2 (Reuters) - A grenade exploded outside a mosque in Ambon in eastern Indonesia today, but there were no casualties, police said.

''The motive was just terror and to spread fear among people,'' Ambon police chief Gatot Guntur Setiawan said.

''We are questioning four witnesses. We have secured the scene and deployed a bomb squad to comb the surrounding area for possible explosive materials.'' Last week six people were wounded when two small bombs exploded in Ambon in the islands of the Moluccas, which saw vicious fighting between Muslims and Christians from 1999 to 2002 that killed more than 5,000.

The conflict also drew Muslim militants from groups such as Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian network blamed for a series of bomb attacks across Indonesia.

Since a 2002 truce between Muslim and Christian communities, sectarian violence has largely subsided on the islands, although there have been sporadic incidents since.

REUTERS SYU ND0924