JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Police swinging batons scuffled with about 100 pro-democracy protesters in Jakarta Friday, and a mob of cheering Muslim youths burned a church in a provincial capital.
Chanting anti-government slogans, the student democracy advocates pushed their way through one line of security personnel but were stopped by another about a half mile from the presidential palace.No injuries or arrests were reported.
Another 300 student protesters defied warnings from the military and staged a noisy but peaceful street rally not far from the presidential palace. Some handed flowers to soldiers.
Friday's demonstrations in the capital are the latest in a series of almost daily protests against President B.J. Habibie, who announced Thursday that parliamentary elections are to be held on June 7. Indonesia's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly, is to convene in August to select a new head of state.
Students have led growing demands for political change since former authoritarian President Suharto stepped down after riots and protests in May.
Last month, soldiers shot nine students to death and injured dozens more when protesters tried to march on Parliament.
Friday, officials said that government investigators plan to question Suharto next week over corruption allegations and could place him under house arrest. Suharto said he would not challenge the inquiry and called himself "an ordinary citizen" in an interview with Dharmais magazine.