The head of the largest Muslim group has gone public with allegations of a plot to overthrow him by creating religious and racial unrest in key towns.
Abdurrahman Wahid, the popular head of the reputedly 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, says an unidentified group has launched two operations, Red and Green Dragon, to remove him and the former chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party, Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Mr Wahid says the alleged plot against Ms Megawati reached its climax with her ousting as party chief last year, but moves to unseat him are still underway with a 'third party' inciting riots in towns loyal to his organisation in Java.
In October, thousands of Muslims in the small East Java town of Situbondo burned more than 20 Christian and Buddhist churches after a prosecutor asked for a five-year jail sentence, deemed too low, for a man accused of insulting Islam. Five people died in the unrest.
On December 26 thousands of Muslims went on the rampage in Tasikmalaya, West Java, angered by alleged police mistreatment of three Muslim teachers. Four people died and more than 100 buildings were burned.
Last month, Time magazine released a report quoting unidentified Islamic, Christian and diplomatic sources as alleging the military had organised the two 'Dragon' operations to overthrow Mr Wahid and Ms Megawati.
Army chief of staff General Hartono denied in the Jakarta Post yesterday any knowledge of such a plot.