Jakarta Police, Students Clash

Indonesian students threw rocks and demanded former President Suharto be tried for corruption during a march Friday on Parliament to mark the first anniversary of Suharto's resignation.

Riot police fired warning shots and tear gas at about 2,000 protesters in a scene reminiscent of the demonstrations and riots that drove Suharto from office.

Several students and security forces were injured in the clashes, the worst in the capital in months. The unrest came two days after campaigning began for June 7 parliamentary elections, also feared to be a source of violence.

Suharto, 77, marked the day by calmly denying allegations that he pillaged Indonesia's coffers of billions of dollars, at the same time dismissing rumors he had fled the country. "I would not leave Indonesia. I was born in Indonesia and will die in Indonesia," a smiling Suharto said in a televised interview at his heavily guarded home, where dozens of adoring well-wishers kissed his hand.

Demonstrations broke out on several university campuses, with students demanding his arrest. The students and political activists headed to Parliament after they were stopped from advancing on Suharto's home.

As rain poured down, protesters pelted riot police and troops with rocks, which the security forces threw back. The protesters did the same when tear gas canisters began raining down.

Another 300 students chanting "Habibie step down" demonstrated outside the residence of Suharto's handpicked successor, B.J. Habibie. Warning shots were fired there as well.

"We are commemorating the first anniversary of Suharto stepping down by rejecting the government's program because Habibie failed to try Suharto," student Simon Raymon said.

Habibie's government has ordered an investigation of Suharto's wealth, but the probe has come to nothing.

Students and others have branded the investigation as a whitewash, and the issue has tainted the ruling Golkar Party's chances at the ballot box.

By IRWAN FIRDAUS