Jakarta – Anti-riot troops fired tear gas Wednesday at thousands of angry supporters of Megawati Sukarnoputri who were marching on parliament after she lost the presidential election,

An AFP reporter said the teargas was fired as the mob tried to break through a cordon blocking off the People's Consultative Assembly complex which only hours elected Megawati's rival, moderate Muslim intellectual Abdurrahman Wahid.

An AFP photographer earlier reported the crowds were burning tyres and tree branches and anything they could find along the route, and throwing stones at security forces. At around 4pm a loud explosion was heard but the origin of the blast was not clear.

Only hours earlier the Megawato supporters had paraded gleefully through the center of the city thinking that Megawati had won the presidency from her lone rival Muslim moderate academic Abdurraman Wahid.

But she lost the vote in the People's Consultative Assembly 373 to 313. After Wahid's victory had been announced Megwati issued an appeal to her followers not to vent their anger. "For the sake of national unity, I call on all Indonesians to accept this condition [result]," Megawati said in a brief televised speech.