Indonesia's army chief yesterday urged former military commander, Gen Pak Wiranto, to quit the cabinet as pressure built to avoid a showdown with President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Army chief Gen Tyasno Sudarto told reporters in Bandung that Gen Wiranto had to follow orders, the first senior military officer to say so publicly.
The President is now counting on his senior generals to force the Gen Wiranto out before he returns from an official tour of Europe and Asia on Sunday.
The official Antara news agency said yesterday that a group of unnamed generals had pledged their loyalty to Mr Wahid and would press Gen Wiranto to resign as Co-ordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs before the president returned.
Mr Wahid would undoubtedly win a face-to-face confrontation with Gen Wiranto, but it would be damaging as he tries to cement his own fragile position and keep the lid on a fractious military angry at his efforts to kick it out of politics.
On Thursday, the armed forces chief, Admiral Widodo, pledged the military's loyalty to the civilian government and said there would be no coup.
In Seoul, the Korean-language Chosun Ilbo newspaper yesterday quoted Mr Wahid as saying in an interview he would suspend Gen Wiranto if he continued refusing to resign.
"I believe it would be in Gen Wiranto's best interest to resign as soon as possible," he said. "I have a plan, in case Wiranto does not step down upon my return. I can apply a regulation that suspends him of his duties temporarily."
Gen Wiranto was the country's armed forces commander when military-backed militias launched a wave of terror in East Timor after most East Timorese voted in August for independence.