Megawati faces first street demonstration

Megawati gets a taste of the protests that greeted predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- More than 2,000 protesters have taken to the streets against President Megawati Sukarnoputri, saying a woman is not fit to lead the world's biggest Islamic community.

It was the first major protest since the daughter of Indonesia's founding father Sukarno took over the troubled country, Reuters reported.

Dressed in white flowing robes and caps with matching green scarves -- the colour of Islam -- the protesters belonging to the hardline "Defenders of Islam" also called for strict Islamic Sharia law to be put in place.

Shouting "Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), Allahu Akbar," the demonstrators converged outside parliament and rallied through some of Jakarta's main roads.

There were no clashes and the protest was later dispersed.

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Megawati, also a Muslim but identified more with her nationalist-secular policies, is the first woman to become president of Indonesia and has won praise for her efforts to drag the nation out of crisis.

One growing concern is the bloodshed that continues in the western province of Aceh, where separatists seek self-rule.

Twelve more bodies of villagers have been found by authorities, police said Monday.

The discovery came ahead of an expected visit by Megawati to the region to try to defuse the conflict that has left more than 1,000 dead this year and thousands more over the past decade.

The rebel Free Aceh Movement and the security forces blamed each other for the latest killings, The Associated Press reported.

Police said the bodies were found in three separate locations on Sunday. The victims had all been shot. Indonesian authorities have rejected demands by the separatists for international observers to investigate massacres and human rights abuses in the province.

Instead, Indonesian police have launched their own probe. Foreign human rights groups have accused the military of committing widespread atrocities and running death squads that have targeted civilians sympathetic to the separatist movement.