Violence alert as Indonesian MPs debate Wahid

Trouble is expected throughout Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Police and troops went on alert for violence throughout Indonesia as Parliament began meeting to decide whether President Abdurrahman Wahid should face impeachment proceedings.

Legislators said before Parliament convened that most factions decided late on Tuesday to seek the impeachment hearing, a move that will infuriate Wahid's fanatical supporters, many of whom have poured into Jakarta.

Immediately after opening the hearing on Wednesday, legislators began bickering over technicalities and adjourned to decide who would chair the session. They resumed shortly afterwards.

Thousands of Wahid loyalists torched two churches, attacked rival party offices and government buildings in his stronghold of East Java province on Tuesday, underscoring the threat of bloodshed hanging over the world's fourth most populous nation.

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Wahid has predicted ructions in at least five parts of the country that he says could lead to Indonesia's disintegration.

While Parliament debated his fate, Wahid took the stage at a convention center a few hundred meters away, welcoming visiting heads of state and government from the G-15 group of developing nations.

His powerful rival, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, is with him at the G-15 conference.

Wahid's decision to proceed with the summit despite his nation's crippling political crisis underscores his open defiance toward lawmakers wanting to bring about his removal.

For months, Wahid has refused to acknowledge the legislature's right to move against him and said that any impeachment attempt would be illegal.

According to the Jakarta Post, supporters have threatened to storm parliament if MPs decide to call for a special impeachment hearing against him in the supreme People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Megawati, once a close ally, has not responded to a request by Wahid to share power that would stave off the impeachment process.

Megawati is Wahid's likely replacement. Her party, Parliament's largest, has already said it will back the call for a special MPR session.

Parliament has dragged Wahid closer to impeachment over two graft scandals, but the move now also reflects broad discontent with the Muslim cleric's erratic 19-month rule over Indonesia, a nation of 210 million.

The official Antara news agency on Wednesday quoted MP Mudahan Hasdi as saying Wahid had sent a letter to all House factions denying involvement in the two scandals and giving details on the government's performance.

Cleared of wrongdoing

On Monday, the attorney-general cleared Wahid of any wrongdoing over the scandals.

Police in Jakarta have been searching train and bus passengers arriving from East Java, confiscating sickles, machetes and bamboo spears brought in by Wahid loyalists.

The Jakarta Post said three people were shot and dozens of others injured in a clash with police in the East Java capital of Surabaya on Tuesday. The condition of those shot was unknown.

Police had fired warning shots to disperse 3,000 Wahid supporters as they tried to storm the local parliament in the city.

About 5,000 Wahid supporters also torched two churches in the East Java town of Pasuruan after security forces drove them back from government buildings they were trying to attack.

Violence also hit other parts of the heavily-populated province, where thousands of Wahid supporters have formed suicide squads, training in martial arts and mystic powers in secretive camps in rice paddies and sugarcane fields.

Reuters contributed to this report.