Jakarta – Indonesia's ministry of lands has initiated moves to seize lands owned by fallen president Suharto and his family that were obtained illegally or harmed community interests, the state Antara news agency said Wednesday.

Antara quoted Land Affairs Minister Hasan Basri Durin as saying the heads of all regional land affairs agencies nationwide had been asked to make an inventory of Suharto family holdings, and that 10 had already complied. "Even if they had land ownership certificates, if the papers prove illegal, they can be annulled," said Durin, who is also the chairman of the National Land Agency.

He added that the inventory was being carried out in coordination with the attorney general's office. "Up to now 10 regional offices have filed their reports and we have submitted the data to the attorney general's team," which is probing the alleged fortune accumulated by Suharto during his 32 years in power.

News of the inventory came amid reports of new clashes between police loyal to the Suharto family and hundreds of small farmers who have taken over a cattle ranch belonging to Suharto and used it for growing bananas and root vegetables. The Indonesian Observer said farmers were beaten with rifle butts and batons, and seven students who had been supporting the farmers were arrested Tuesday.

Durin said the sprawling ranch, the Tri-S Tapos, in the hills overlooking Jakarta, was one of the examples of land ownings that hurt the community, and said the title of the ranch was in the process of being annulled.

It also came as Justice Minister Muladi was quoted by the Observer as saying he felt that Attorney General Andi Ghalib was proceding "too slowy" with the official probe into Suharto's alleged wealth. "You must provoke the attorney general to launch a quicker investigation," Muladi was quoted as telling reporters on the sidelines of a parliamentary hearing.

He also said he himself had been urging Ghalib to step up the pace of the probe, ordered by the government of Suharto's successor B.J. Habibie in June, a month after Suharto stepped down under mounting public pressure.

The Observer commented however that it was afraid that despite Durin's moves, the fact that he was cooperating with Ghalib's office had raised "fear" that the Suharto family would not have "to give up anything, as the probe team is considered rather weak."

Little is known about the extent of the Suharto family's land holdings inside Indonesia, although properties outside the country are better known. Indonesian dissident George Aditjondro last month identified five houses worth up to two million pounds owned by three of Suharto's six children and one half-brother in London, five houses in the United States, several in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands and a sprawling ranch in New Zealand owned by Suharto's youngest son.