East Timorese protest crushed

But they stayed behind bars overnight 8220;in solidarity with the other political detainees,8221; lawyer Aniceto Gutteres of a local legal aid group said.

Another political prisoner was to be released in Baucau, some 180 kilometres 112 miles east of the East Timor capital, while two others had charges dropped.

A non-Timorese political prisoner, Coky Yahya Runasia Tanel Guntur Aritonang, who was convicted of insulting former President Suharto, was freed from jail in Magelang, Central Java.

The government of Habibie, which took over from Suharto on May 21, has pledged the release of most political prisoners under a reform drive.

Habibie has also said duringinterviews that the government was prepared to accord 8220;special status8221; for East Timor. But the offer of autonomy within Indonesia has been rejected by protesting East Timorese students here and in Jakarta.

Around 1,500 protesters demanding a referendum for the population of the former Portuguese colony swarmed into the foreign ministry compound in Jakarta.

But about 1,000 troops charged the protestors, whacking them with rattan sticks and herding them towards 16 buses waiting in front of the ministry.

Some protestors hurled objects, including bottles and shoes, at the soldiers and many of the women protestors were seen weeping as they were carted onto the buses.