Friday, September 24, 1999 Published at 09:47 GMT 10:47 UK
Eyewitness: Caught in the Jakarta riots
The tense stand-off has been interspersed with fierce clashes
By Jim Fish in Jakarta
Hundreds of heavily-armed riot police and paramilitary forces have been carrying out sweeps through Jakarta's main business district in an attempt to disperse the students and demonstrators.
The streets outside the Atmanjaya Catholic University campus were littered with rocks and stones.
On the road there was a large pool of blood - witnesses said one demonstrator was shot in the head by police in the head.
Smoke rose from a burned-out car.
About 1,000 university students - by now joined by workers and secondary school students - escaped through side streets.
I was among about 100 people, mainly bystanders, trapped by the police outside a hotel whose entrance had been boarded up.
Several people were beaten, including one teenage schoolboy next to me.
The police at times seemed beyond their officers' control, ignoring their pleas for restraint.
After about half-an-hour, the entire area had been cleared.
But with student groups pledging to continue their protests, the security forces seem determined to make an example of anyone they catch, and are braced for further trouble.