During recent months, parts of the main island of Java have been terrorised by masked killers dressed in black, according to police, witnesses and media reports.

They say the killers strike at night, cutting their victims throats and sometimes hanging mutilated bodies in trees or tossing them in the street. Mobs have also attacked and killed people they accuse of dabbling in black magic.

Some of the dead were muslim clerics. Others were farmers or ordinary villagers.

Police have arrested more than 100 suspects, but acknowledge there's no clear motive for the grisly slayings.

The Jakarta Post newspaper today quoted Justice Minister Muladi as saying fear of sorcery has stirred up unrest and violence in superstitious communities.

``The impact of this issue is very disturbing and itoften claims innocent victims,'' he said.

He said anyone who openly claims they can kill or hurt others with black magic should be punished.

``That would be one way to resolve the witchcraft issue,'' Muladi said.

In one attack in Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya, officers yesterday fired warning shots above protesters when they stormed a police station in the mistaken belief that one of the killers had been detained inside.

``People become suspicious of just about anything nowadays,'' said North Surabaya police chief Lt. Col. Sunaryono.

The surge in violence has erupted as Indonesia grapples with political turmoil and the worst economic crisis in decades.

Violent protests killed about 1,200 people and helped drive former authoritarian president Suharto from office in may. At that time members of the mostly Christian or Buddhist ethnic Chinese minority were targeted because of their relative wealth.

However, this new violence is now plaguing the Islamic majority. Amid the socialconfusion of the economic crisis - skyrocketing inflation, unemployment, poverty and food shortages - no one is sure who is doing the killing or why.

Police speculate the slayings might be in revenge for the slaughter of tens of thousands of communists in the mid-1960s when Suharto took power after an abortive coup attempt. Historians say Muslim clerics helped the army carry out the carnage.

Others believe the killings may represent a bloody power play before general elections next year.

A third possibility is that some Muslim groups want to stamp out mysticism that still permeates Indonesian society.

About 90 percent of Indonesia's 202 million people are muslim, making it the world's most populous Islamic nation.