Soldiers fire on Jakarta protesters fired upon by troops

INDONESIAN TROOPS fired on unarmed demonstrators outside the national parliament in Jakarta yesterday as tens of thousands of people marched through the centre of the capital.

Human-rights monitors were prevented, at first, from entering hospitals last night, but later reports suggested that 50 people had been injured in the worst disturbances in Jakarta since President Suharto was driven from power six months ago.

Police and soldiers carrying automatic rifles fired over the heads of the demonstrators as they marched towards the parliament where MPs are meeting in a special session to debate new laws and prepare for democratic elections next year. Tear-gas rounds were fired and water cannon were sprayed on to the crowds from British-made armoured cars.

The rounds fired by the troops appear to have been blank or rubber coated, but on at least one occasion they were fired directly into the demonstrators. Ambulances were seen driving away from the scene and witnesses said that at least one man suffered a bullet wound in the leg. "The army and police overreacted," said a Western diplomat who was at the scene. "There was no threat against them."

The situation was alarmingly reminiscent of similar scenes in May, when uncontrolled rioting and nationwide protests forced President Suharto to resign after 32 years in power. He was succeeded by his vice-president and close friend, B J Habibie, who convened this week's meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to fulfil his promise of democratic reform.

But many Indonesians regard the new president as little more than a stooge of the old regime. The national assembly, too, is still largely composed of unelected army officers and direct appointees of Suharto. When the assembly issues its decrees today they are expected to fall short of the demands made by the student organisations. These include elimination of the military's political role and an investigation into Suharto's acquired wealth.

"Suharto continues to live a good life, to enjoy his estimated wealth of $17bn [pounds 10bn] obtained through corruption and robbing the people for the last 32 years," one of the student statements reads.

There have been intermittent demonstrations in Jakarta since May. But the protest yesterday marked the first time that vast numbers of ordinary people had joined the students. Many of them came from Jakarta's kampongs, the slum areas that have been worst affected by the country's economic crisis.

One of the city's ring roads was blocked by the crowd. Small groups of a few hundred soldiers who tried to stop the march were brushed aside. "Long live the Marines," people shouted at the Marine Corps, who are widely believed to be sympathetic to reform.

"This shows a tyrannical regime cannot control the people," said Ali, a history student from the prestigious University of Indonesia, as he walked towards the parliament.

The troops made their stand as night fell and torrential rain began to pour down. The students' discipline broke only once when a group of them attempted to drive an ambulance through soldiers blocking the toll road. Riot police smashed its windows with sticks, while soldiers fired dozens of blanks and rubber bullets into the air to drive the protesters back.

At least four students inside the ambulance were wounded, as well as one policeman. Officers ordered their men to pick up spent cartridge cases, and a Western diplomat who gathered some of the spent rounds as evidence was frisked.

There was no repeat of the incident last May that triggered Suharto's downfall, when six demonstrating students were shot dead with live rounds. But the military is in a quandary about the degree of force which it can afford to employ. Yesterday, the chief of the Indonesian armed forces, General Wiranto, offered an "apology" for the army's involvement in low- level violence on Wednesday. "As the father of the whole of the armed forces, I apologise and ask for forgiveness from the victims and their families," he said.