Jakarta – Student protesters shouted "Hang Suharto" outside Parliament and staged a rowdy protest in a main street yesterday, ignoring an appeal by the military chief to halt "out-of-control" condemnation of the ousted leader.

Mr Suharto, a former army general who turns 77 on Monday, faces growing demands to surrender riches accumulated during three decades in power.

The 2,000 banner-waving students demanded he be put on trial for economic crimes. Soldiers closed the road.

The protesters scoffed at a pledge by new President Bacharuddin Habibie to hold general elections next year, saying he was a corrupt lackey of Mr Suharto and should step aside.

Later, the military sealed off a city-centre junction to stop about 20 busloads of protesters from staging a demonstration at Jakarta's National Monument, across from the Presidential Palace.

Hundreds of students shouted slogans as soldiers, police and guests at adjacent five-star hotels looked on.

Earlier, Mr Habibie urged Indonesians not to dwell on a corrupt past and focus on economic recovery. But with the economy expected to shrink at least 10 per cent this year, the task is daunting.

Student protesters who helped dislodge the president accuse Mr Suharto of deepening Indonesia's financial crisis by exploiting state wealth.

General Wiranto, the armed forces chief, said the nation of 202 million people should pardon Mr Suharto because he boosted economic growth and averted chaos by relinquishing power.

A government commission, meanwhile, said the death toll over several days of riots in Jakarta in the middle of last month was 1,188, more than double a military estimate.

In a report released yesterday, the National Commission on Human Rights also criticised the armed forces for failing to take prompt action to prevent rioting.

The chairman of the ruling Golkar party, Harmoko, rejected demands from senior party members that he quit but said he did not want to be re-nominated for the post.