JAKARTA (JP): Protesting Muslim students in favor of Palestinian solidarity tried to force their way into the U.S. Embassy compound on Jl. [Road] Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, prompting clashes with the police officers who tried to block them away, reports said. Some 500 protesters, among them from KAMMI (Indonesian Muslim Student Committee), breached the barbed wire barricades in front of the embassy, El Shinta radio reported live from the scene around 3:50 p.m. [0830 GMT] Wednesday. Police tried to disperse the crowds but the protesters beat the security personnel with sticks and flag poles. No immediate report of casualties was available, but the police reportedly managed to herd the students away from the embassy gate. The protesters were showing their support to Palestinians following Israel's recent incursion into Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters in Ramallah, which killed at least five security personnel. The students believe the U.S. is allied with Israel. Heavy traffic congestion took place in almost every connecting roads near Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta following the protest.