Police fired warning shots in two towns and a mob at a third burned the office of the former ruling party yesterday as protests raged over parliament's attempt to impeach Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid.
It was the second consecutive day that the security forces have acted against thousands of demonstrators.
Police in Lamongan in East Java province said about 10,000 pro-Wahid demonstrators tried to attack a local office of the Golkar Party, that used to support former dictator Suharto and is now backing moves against Wahid.
There were no reports of injuries in the town about 550km east of Jakarta.
In nearby Nganjuk about a crowd of about 1,000 set fire to another Golkar office.
Police also fired shots into the air to break up a brawl by rival groups of students for and against Wahid outside the local legislature in Makassar on Sulawesi island, 1,400km northeast of Jakarta.
Wahid plans to visit East Java today in a bid to calm the situation there. The region is home province and the heartland of his political party.
"The president will meet his supporters to bring the situation back to normal," presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar said after a Cabinet meeting.
Thousands of pro-Wahid protesters also marched through the ancient city of Yogyakarta, 400km east of Jakarta.
Golkar officials said at least nine of its offices in East Java had been attacked in the past few days, including one in the provincial capital, Surabaya, that was burned by a massive crowd on Wednesday despite volleys of police tear gas and warning shots.
Wahid has called for calm, but has described the attacks as "understandable" and a reflection of popular anger against the actions of the legislature.
Yesterday's Cabinet meeting was convened at the state palace in Jakarta amid signs that Wahid's coalition government is feeling the strain of the ongoing political crisis.
Wahid has fired one minister for suggesting that he quit after the parliament last week censured him over two corruption scandals.
The censure opens the door to his possible impeachment, which could take at least four months.
Wahid, who 15 months ago became Indonesia's first democratically elected head of state in more than 40 years, has denied any wrongdoing in the affairs.
In a related development, Wahid's former masseur and business partner went on trial yesterday on charges of embezzling US$4 million from the state food distribution agency.
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