Student protesters to occupy palace

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of students who are members of the All- Java Executive Student Boards will rally at the State Palace on Thursday to demand the resignation of President Abdurrahman Wahid and the dissolution of the Golkar Party.

Spokesperson for the group, Aulia, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday the students "will occupy the palace for six hours, beginning from 6 a.m." and stage a peaceful demonstration.

The students, Aulia said, would depart from the Salemba campus of the University of Indonesia in Central Jakarta.

The rally coincides with the 52nd anniversary of an attack on a Dutch base in Yogyakarta by Indonesian independence strugglers led by Lt. Col. Soeharto, who later became the country's second president. The Indonesian soldiers occupied the then country's capital city for six hours, sending a message to the international community of resistance to the Dutch effort to reclaim its colony. (amd)