Jakarta – Some 10,000 Indonesians have massed in front of the US embassy, to support the Palestinian people and condemn Israel's deadly offensive and the arrest of Palestinian officials.

Thousands of white-clad members and supporters of the Muslim-oriented Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), many of them veiled women and their children, gathered at Jakarta's main mosque before heading to the US embassy.

Many on the one-kilometre (half-mile) march waved the Palestinian flag and wore the party's white T-shirt with black and yellow logo while others donned black headbands.

One banner said "Solidarity for the independent people of the Palestine," while another poster said: "The real terrorist is Zionist Israel." At the embassy, the protestors threw pieces of paper at six replica stone pillars against which Muslim Haj pilgrims traditionally throw pebbles to ward off evil, which had been set up in front of the embassy.

Picture of the United States flag and US president George W. Bush were pasted on top of the replicas.

Scores of policemen stood on standby between the demonstrators and the embassy fence, while embassy security forces were also on guard behind the barrier.

Central Jakarta Police Chief Bambang Hermanu said that about 500 police personnel were deployed in and around the site of the protest.

After an hour of peaceful demonstration, the protesters then moved their rally to the United Nations mission on a main avenue another one kilometre away, before planning to disband.

PKS is a fledgling party that has drawn enormous support among urban Muslims. It advocates clean government and respect for Islamic laws and teachings within the secular republic.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, is a staunch supporter of the Palestinian struggle for nationhood and has no diplomatic relations with Israel.