Indonesian police on full alert

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's national police force is on full alert as fears of political violence spreads across the country.

The alert status was moved up from level two to level one shortly before President Abdurrahman Wahid gave a statement ordering his top security minister to "take all steps" to ensure security.

A level one alert is one step below an emergency alert, which is not the same as a national state of emergency.

"That means there is a situation developing here," said uniformed operations chief Brig-Gen. Sylvanus Wenas. "We are on high alert so that we will not miss anything."

It was business as usual in the capital Jakarta Monday, but security around the presidential palace and the vice-president's office has been tightened since weekend.

Wahid was reportedly to have considered state of emergency in a bid to thwart parliament's impeachment efforts -- an idea that military and police chiefs said they would be object.

Meanwhile, three contingents of presidential guards entered Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's official residence while she was holding a meeting with her party's officials inside.

Problems have brewed in East Java, Wahid's home province, and neighboring Central Java as fanatical loyalists took to the streets protesting efforts to remove the frail Muslim cleric from office.

Mobs in small towns attacked buildings of opposition parties and groups, including burning an office of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in East Java's town of Pasuruan, prompting police to fire warning shots.

Megawati had ordered millions of her supporters to stay calm and not to be provoked into violence.

Megawati, favored by opposition parties to replace Wahid, has yet to formally respond to his offer to make her head of government in an attempt to avoid the impeachment move.

However, her aides say that she is likely to reject the offer.

Reuters contributed to this report.