AN Australian flag was burned amid violent scenes outside Australia's embassy in Jakarta today as protesters demanded an official apology over spying revelations.
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About 200 protesters were blocking the road outside the embassy at 11am local time (3.00pm AEST), demanding Australia's embassy be closed and its diplomats expelled if it failed to issue an official apology tot the Republic of Indonesia over spying revelations.
There was at least an equal number of police on the scene, with water cannons and barbed wire.
A half a dozen groups were represented, including one - Laskar Merah Putih, or the Red and White Front - which was involved in violent protests in 1999 over Australia's involvement in East Timor.
The numbers of protesters was expected to swell to 500 by noon, local time.
Laskar Merah Putih leader Eko Sutikno said over a megaphone: ''If the Australian prime minister does not apologise in 7 times 24 hours (a week) we will mobilise our people 10 times bigger than today.
''Laskar Merah Putih and FKPPI (a group representing military and police families) have 10 million members across Indonesia.''
Another speaker warned: ''If Australia does not apologise in 24 hours we will begin sweeping (aggressively pursuing) Australian citizens here. "
Earlier, A large group of protesters in Yogyakarta, a hotbed of student activism, demanded an apology from the Australian Prime Minister, after yesterday burning an Australian flag.
''Our people are furious, our country is insulted. Fight Australia,'' chanted dozens of students as they demonstrated at a university campus on Wednesday.
The demonstrations in Jakarta came as Indonesian hackers claimed responsibility for an attack on Australian Federal Police and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
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