Jakarta - More than 8,000 Indonesian troops will begin weapons checks at entry points to Jakarta today to counter possible violence when parliament meets next week to decide the fate of President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Fears of the use of force and clashes between Wahid supporters and opponents have prompted police to put 42,000 officers and soldiers on standby to safeguard the capital.
The police checks were announced as the parliamentary speaker said he believed that only Mr Wahid's tiny National Awakening Party (PKB), which holds less than a tenth of the seats in the house, would try to defend him when MPs meet to decide on a second censure next Monday.