Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have banned a book by an elderly politician, saying the contents discredited the government, the armed forces and President Suharto, a newspaper report said on Thursday.

Attorney-General Singgih signed a decree banning New Era, New Leader: Badio Rejects the Engineering by the New Order Regime, a 22 page-book by Subadio Sastrosatomo, a prominent politician of the 1950s, the Media Indonesia daily said.

The newspaper quoted Mr Subadio, 78, as saying he had been summoned to the attorney-general's office.

The content ''can cause unrest, undermine public trust in the government, ABRI (the Indonesian armed forces) and the national leader," the daily said quoting the decree.

The title refers to Mr Suharto's ''New Order" government that started in 1968.

Mr Subadio was quoted by Media Indonesia as saying that ''if I am arrested for writing this book, please go ahead, but what I wrote is the truth".

A former parliamentarian and one of the leaders of the now defunct Indonesian Socialist Party, Mr Subadio said he was a surviving witness of Indonesia's independence struggle and added that ''if there are people who are falsifying history, I would know".

Indonesia declared independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1945, but went through four years of armed and diplomatic struggle before The Netherlands officially recognised Indonesian sovereignty.

Mr Subadio said 5,000 copies of the book had been printed.

The attorney general's spokesman office was not immediately available for comment.

The ban covered the printing, distribution and possession of the book. The attorney-general called on all citizens to hand over any copies they may have already bought, to the authorities.