Jakarta – At least 2,000 people marched through the streets of Yogyajarta in central Java on Sunday, calling for a holy war against the United States in one of the largest protests here against the US-led coalition in Iraq in recent weeks.

Dressed in traditional Muslim attire, demonstrators carried banners that read "Jihad [holy war] is the only solution for the world crisis" and "Take your sword, prepare for Jihad." Police were on hand to prevent any violence, but no arrests were made and the march was largely peaceful.

Most of the protesters came from Indonesia's main Muslim groups Muhammadiyah, Majelis Mujahiddin Indonesia and Nahdlatul Ulama, which organized the march, Associated Press reported.

Protest leader Ahmad Mursyidi criticized the Indonesian government for not responding strongly enough over the Iraq and called on President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government to end diplomatic relations with the United States. But observers say the government's repeated condemnations of the Iraqi invasion appear to have helped defuse public discontent.

While many in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, were against the war in Iraq, demonstrations here have been mostly peaceful and considerably smaller than those held during the US-led attack on Afghanistan in 2001.

Mursyidi also called for a boycott of American goods. "Stop buying McDonald's and KFC, they are American products. If you buy them it means you support the US," said Mursyidi told the crowd.