JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- The leaders of Indonesia's Parliament will ask President Suharto to step down after more than three decades of autocratic rule, the speaker of the upper house said Monday.

At a news conference, Parliament speaker Harmoko said the four factions in Parliament would meet Tuesday to ask that Suharto resign.

Violence the past week, triggered by an economic crisis that has pushed up food and fuel prices, has left at least 500 people dead and loosened Suharto's hold on this Southeast Asian nation of 200 million people that he has ruled over for 32 years.

News of the latest development came soon after thousands of student protesters converged on Parliament in a convoy of buses and were joined by a dozen former army generals, once allies of Indonesia's besieged leader.

Backed up by tanks, soldiers briefly pointed their guns at the students after letting them on to the grounds of the domed building in an unusual concession. But the tension eased and students resumed shouting "Bring down Suharto" and waving the red-and-white Indonesian flag.

A key Cabinet minister, meanwhile, said remnants of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party, or PKI, instigated riots over price increases last week in Jakarta and other major Indonesian cities.

"Those were PKI's ways," said Home Affairs Minister Hartono. Suharto, who banned the party in the 1960s after a power struggle, has often spoken of a communist threat to national stability. Critics say he uses it to justify his autocratic grip on the country.

Escalating protests in the wake of the deadly riots, thousands of students also demonstrated against Suharto in Bandung, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.

Shocked students had suspended rallies to cool tensions, after looters fed up with economic hardship rampaged across the capital of 11 million people, burning hundreds of cars, motorcycles, stores and houses.

At least 500 people were killed and thousands of fearful international visitors have fled the country on chartered flights.

Trying to fend off pressure to quit, Suharto was handed a resignation letter from a scandal-plagued Cabinet minister, apparently the first casualty in a reshuffle expected this week.

Demonstrations could grow

Opposition figure Amien Rais said he planned to summon 1 million people into the streets of the capital for demonstrations Wednesday, the 90th anniversary of the creation of a nationalist movement against Dutch rule.

Rais heads Muhammadiyah, a Muslim group with 28 million members. The vast majority of his followers have so far shunned student calls to join their anti-government rallies.

Wearing a headband bearing the slogan "Peaceful reform," he climbed on to the top of a car in front of the students demonstrating at Parliament and raised his arms. Protesters cheered wildly.

Mass burial for charred victims

Also Monday, funerals were held for last week's riot victims. Many of those who died were trapped while pilfering goods in shopping malls set ablaze by rioters, and were burned beyond recognition.

At one cemetery, 20 ambulances with sirens wailing pulled up and grave diggers unloaded plywood caskets without nameplates. Only 20 mourners were on hand.

Indonesian officials said the Jakarta riots had caused at least $250 million in damage.

The violence was triggered by an economic crisis that has pushed up food and fuel prices, loosening Suharto's hold on the Southeast Asian nation of 200 million people.

Protesters urge reform

At Parliament, police allowed several hundred students, lecturers and alumni from the prestigious University of Indonesia to enter a building in the Parliament complex. The protesters carried a petition calling on Suharto, Asia's longest-serving leader, and Vice President Bacharuddin Habibie to step down.

"Everybody is talking about the need for reform," said retired army Lt. Gen. Solihin, who joined the students. "The problem is how, when, and where."

Chiefs in the military, which plays a pivotal role in Indonesian politics, have said they support political reform as long as it is constitutional.

The Jakarta stock exchange was open Monday but trading was light as nervous investors stayed out of the market. Key Asian markets slid in early trading because of fears of continuing turmoil in Indonesia.

Suharto, a 76-year-old former army general, has said he will reshuffle his Cabinet, which critics say is a symbol of nepotism and corruption. It includes his eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, who is social affairs minister.

Abdul Latief, the tourism, arts and culture minister, submitted his resignation Monday. Latief had been accused of using state money to influence lawmakers while labor minister in the previous Cabinet.

International pressure for political reform is mounting, too.

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