The Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has again called on the former armed forces chief, General Wiranto, to resign from the government.

It is the third time in the past week that Mr Wahid has asked General Wiranto to step down - and the president said he hoped the resignation would be handed in before his return from a tour of Europe.

He said General Wiranto would be placed on trial for his role in last year's atrocities in East Timor and would have to leave the cabinet while the case was being heard.

General Wiranto has refused to accept the findings of an Indonesian inquiry into the events in East Timor, which he said had ignored army evidence.

Mr Wahid was speaking after meeting Pope John Paul II at the Vatican. They discussed the Christian-Muslim violence that has cost the lives of hundreds of Indonesians over the past year.

The repeated calls for General Wiranto's resignation has led to increased tension.

The head of the Indonesian army said on Friday that the situation caused by the refusal of former armed forces chief, General Wiranto, to resign from government was becoming "dangerous and uncertain".

General Tyasno Sudarto said he guaranteed that the army, as an institution, would not launch a coup, but he could not supervise his officers individually.

Despite the pressure, General Wiranto has continued to attend cabinet meetings and turned up for work in his office.

The former armed forces chief has also strongly defended his role in protecting and helping arrange the referendum in East Timor last year in which the population voted for independence from Indonesia.