On Monday there were scenes of near anarchy as a ship carrying at least 5,000 people and all their belongings left Ambon bound for western Indonesia.

The depature is part of a mass exodus sparked by rising inter-communal violence in the province of Maluku, 2,250km (1,400 miles) northeast of Jakarta.

More than 100 people have been killed in recent violence between Muslims and Christians, which has also caused extensive damage and left thousands homeless.

New clashes

Indonesia has been swept by a wave of social unrest

Earlier police on the nearby island of Saparua fired warning shots to break up new fighting between rival Muslim and Christian gangs.

Local officials said the clashes left at least one person dead and five others injured.

It was not clear what provoked the latest outbreak of violence.

Burnt out villages

The BBC's Jakarta Correspondent, Jonathan Head, who has visited the scenes of earlier violence on the island of Ambon, says he has seen village after village, most of them Christian, which had been burnt to the ground.

He said many thousands of Muslims were preparing to leave Ambon fearing Christian reprisals for the attacks.

Most of the refugees say they would like to return, but only if their safety is guaranteed - something Indonesia's over-stretched armed forces cannot do at the moment.

Indonesia has been engulfed in a wave of social unrest following the downfall of President Suharto last May and the fallout from the region's economic crisis.

Our correspondent says that rumours of further attacks and reprisals are everywhere on the island and one Muslim leader told him he believes there was a plan to expel enough Muslims to be able to create an independent Christian state.