Jakarta – A glass window in a hallway in Indonesia's parliament building was pierced yesterday by what seemed to be a bullet, just minutes after former president Suharto's youngest son passed it on his way to give testimony, witnesses said.

But police said it was unclear whether the object was a bullet. "We cannot make any conclusion. We are still making investigations," Jakarta police detective Alex Bambang Riatmodjo told reporters.

The incident came five minutes after Mr Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra arrived to be questioned on suspicion that he had embezzled millions of dollars through his clove marketing agency.

Cloves are a major ingredient in a popular type of Indonesian cigarette called kretek. Witnesses said the object pierced the first-floor window and left a hole and cracks in the glass near the room where Mr Hutomo was being questioned but failed to shatter it.

Journalists who covered the session said they did not hear any gunfire. But a city policeman who inspected the scene said the window appeared to have been hit by a 32-calibre bullet fired from an air gun.

The incident was the second of its kind at the parliament building this year. Last month, the glass window in the office of a United Development Party legislator was hit by a bullet in what many believe was part of a "terror" campaign against vocal legislators.

The latest incident also follows a stabbing attack on Mr Matori Abdul Djalil who is the head of the party set up by President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Parliament speaker Akbar Tandjung urged greater protection after yesterday's incident. "We ask the police to protect the parliamentarians in implementing their duties, whether it is inside the parliament building or outside," the Antara national news agency quoted him as saying.