About 2,000 Muslim protesters urged Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Sunday to better fight government corruption that is tainting the leader's second term in office.
Yudhoyono was re-elected in a landslide victory in July on a promise to stamp out systemic corruption. But his popularity has already been tested by scandals surrounding Indonesia's anti-graft commission and a 6.76 trillion rupiah ($715 million) government bailout of a bank.
Supporters of the Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international network that advocates a worldwide Islamic state, staged a peaceful protest in downtown Jakarta calling for the president to bring to justice corrupt government officials. Police estimated some 2,000 protesters attended the rally.
"We want the government to really prosecute _ as they promised to _ all the government officials involved in corruption," protest organizer Ismail Yusanto said.
Supporters of the group held similar protests in two other cities, Surabaya and Yogyakarta, involving several hundred people. Organizers said those demonstrations ended peacefully.
Yudhoyono faces questions over the last year's bailout of a bank, which critics have alleged is full of irregularities. Indonesian lawmakers last week launched an inquiry into allegations that the bailout benefited Yudhoyono's re-election campaign _ a claim he has denied.
The Indonesian government's struggle against graft has also been hurt by a monthslong battle between the top anti-graft agency and rival police and prosecutors in Indonesia. An investigation found that senior law enforcers tried to frame anti-graft officials from the Corruption Eradication Commission on fabricated charges of bribery and blackmail.
The commission has been key to efforts to fight corruption in recent years.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-dominated nation. According to advocacy group Transparency International's corruption index, Indonesia ranks 111th out of 180 countries.
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