JAKARTA Indonesia's main opposition leaders, including a vocal Muslim leader, turned up the heat on President Suharto on Monday calling for an end to his 32-year rule. There is no other choice, I would tell him (Suharto). It is enough to go this far, do not cling on (to power) because it may lead to daily bloody clashes, Amien Rais, the outspoken leader of the 28-million strong Muhammadiyah Islamic Movement said.

To loud applause from some 2,000 people thronged in a sports hall for a celebration to mark a meeting of a Muhammadiyah-affiliated women's organization, Rais said the government had lost the people's trust. Students and the population had found the courage to demand a change in the national leadership, he said. Students, who have been protesting in towns across Indonesia since February to demand immediate reforms, have upped the ante in recent days and included calls for Suharto to step down.

Some of the rallies have turned violent, with clashes with security forces leaving at least two dead and hundreds injured in past weeks. Riots and looting have pushed the unconfirmed death toll to nine. The Group of October 28", gathering several leading critics and members of the opposition and dissident movement, earlier Monday called on the legislative body to reverse its March decision to appoint Suharto as president and Bacharuddin Yusuf Habibie as vice president for 1998-2003.

(AFP)