Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – A defiant General Suroyo Bimantoro, the sacked national police chief, said yesterday that President Abdurrahman Wahid's supporters would engineer mass unrest three days before his impeachment hearing on August 1.

Armed with a copy of the latest police intelligence report, he told a gathering of top commanders that the Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) was plotting to stir up violence to justify the imposition of emergency rule. The meeting was chaired by the man that the President had appointed to replace Gen Bimantoro – deputy police chief Chaeruddin Ismail.

A two-star police general, disclosing the contents of the intelligence brief, told The Straits Times that there had been "increased activity" by NU supporters last week in nearly all of Java, Lampung, Jambi, South and West Kalimantan, and Central Sulawesi. "We believe they are being mobilised to cause problems," he said.

Analysts said Gen Bimantoro was using the closed-door meeting to shore up support as he continued to defy the President's order to quit. The source said: "Gen Bimantoro does not want to give Gus Dur any excuse to move in on him and any of the other generals supporting him.

"He is hoping that with this report, the officers will back him all the way." The defiant general yesterday ordered ground troops to step up sweeping operations on NU supporters at provincial borders. He warned that the police would be made scapegoats if violence erupted.

But some senior officers expressed doubts over the intelligence report he produced at the meeting yesterday, saying he might have exaggerated the extent of the problems that Mr Abdurrahman's supporters could cause.

Outside the police structure, Gen Bimantoro has also been trying to cultivate the ground in the armed forces leadership. Sources said he had at least two meetings with TNI chief A.S. Widodo last week. He reportedly told the admiral that a number of generals allied to the palace were supporting moves to declare a state of emergency.

But the military commander brushed aside the allegation. According to an army general, the admiral said: "Even if I have one or two generals close to Gus Dur, they will not contemplate causing unrest under the TNI banner". He told the belligerent police commander that he should conduct himself as a professional "and not be so emotional" in reacting to pressures from the palace.

But having said that, observers believe there continues to be strong support for Gen Bimantoro, especially in the army, for standing up to the President. Gen Bimantoro's public attacks on Mr Abdurrahman for seeking to impose emergency rule mirror that of army chief Endriartono Sutarto's battles with the palace.

For the army leadership, the protracted confrontation between the palace and police has a significant bearing on TNI's relations with the President.

The generals are convinced that the 60-year-old leader, by cracking the whip at Gen Bimantoro and his supporters for insubordination, is sending them a strong signal that he does not condone their support for Parliament's initiatives.

Military sources said it was instructive that he had issued the arrest order for Gen Bimantoro, just one day after the TNI backed the need for a special national Assembly session.

Said an army general: "Gus Dur's main gripe is with the army, not the police. "But he found it difficult to attack us directly. So, he picked a softer target like Bimantoro to make his point."