By Cindy Shiner
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, September 8, 1998; Page A21

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Sept. 7—Hundreds of student demonstrators demanding the resignation of President B.J. Habibie tore down the front gate of Indonesia's parliament building today in the largest protest here since the mass demonstrations that brought down former president Suharto in May.

At least 1,000 protesters, angry at the government's handling of the country's economic crisis and demanding lower prices, turned out early in the day, but by nightfall only about 300 remained at the parliament in a standoff with riot police.

[The students were forced from the grounds early Tuesday by security forces wielding batons and carrying shields, news agencies reported.

[News reports and witnesses said at least two students were stabbed with bayonets and five were taken to a hospital after inhaling tear gas. Students responded by throwing glass bottles and other objects. A police spokesman said five officers were injured. Police said they made no arrests.]

The protest lacked the tension and broad support of May's demonstrations, in which thousands of students took over the parliament building. Observers said the military is reluctant to crack down on demonstrators while it is under the scrutiny of local human rights groups and the international community for abuses committed during Suharto's authoritarian 32-year rule. Investigations are underway into the abduction and torture of political activists, the shooting deaths of four student demonstrators in May and the disappearance of civilians in the province of Aceh, where mass graves recently were exhumed.

Critics of Habibie, who is Indonesia's first civilian president and was a protege of Suharto, accuse him of the same corruption and nepotism that characterized the former government. "The stepping down of Suharto has not improved things. . . . It is quite clear that Habibie is a puppet of Suharto," student protesters said in a statement.

The official Antara news agency, meanwhile, reported that rioters torched shops owned by ethnic Chinese today in the rural town of Kebumen on the main island of Java.

The rioting broke out after a dispute erupted with an ethnic Chinese businessman. Ethnic Chinese often are targeted when violence flares, in part because they are perceived as being wealthier than other Indonesians. A small number of ethnic Chinese control as much as 70 percent of the country's private wealth.

At least nine shops were set ablaze in Kebumen, and troops were dispatched to contain the unrest. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Several riots have erupted in recent weeks as Indonesians struggle with mounting unemployment and high prices.