For about two hours, Muslim scholars and leaders, student representatives and activists, addressed the crowd of up to one million people, some calling for Jihad (Islamic holy war) should their demand go unheeded by Jakarta.

Cut Nur Asyikin, a woman pro-referendum activist from Pidie district, roused the crowd asking them whether the people of Aceh "are prepared to go on Jihad if the referendum does not take place."

A petition in support of a referendum for Aceh, to be sent to the leaders of the Indonesian legislature and to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, was also signed at the mosque by the leader of the Aceh parliament, Muhammad Yus and Vice Governor Bustari Mansyur.

"Today, it has been proven that all the people of Aceh are united, and came to Banda Aceh to voice their aspiration and demand for a referendum," Teungku Bulkaini, a traditional Muslim leader, told the crowd according to the Detikcom online news service.

Yells of "Merdeka (Freedom)", "Long Live the People of Aceh" and "Long Live Referendum," and "A united Aceh people cannot be defeated," resounded throughout the area as well as went the participants were on their way home.

By noon, the crowd had already began to leave the centrally located, jet black domed Baiturrahman main mosque built by the Dutch in the 19th century, which they had begun to flood since sunrise.

There was no reported incident of violence and not a single uniformed Indonesian soldier or police officer was seen in the area.

Instead students in their university jackets helped move the crowd along smoothly and stood guard at various strategic locations.

The "General Assembly of the Fighters for Referendum" (SU-MPR), was organized by the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), a group gathering students and non-government organizations, to push for the ballot.

The massive rally started at around 8:45 a.m. (0145 GMT) with the raising of a giant four by eight meter (13 by 26 feet) white flag carrying the word "Referendum" in bold blue letters, on the mosque's front flag pole.

About an hour after the flag was raised the crowd had swelled to close to one million people, an AFP photograher there said.

Thousands of others who could not reach the main mosque gathered in four large fields not far away.

Young and old, men and veiled women, almost all wore bandanas inscribed with the word "Referendum." Some wore the bandana over their black "Kopiah" hat, a Malay hat which has come to mostly symbolize Muslim Malays.

Coordinator of SIRA's central presidium, Muhammad Nazar, said people were reminded it was a peaceful struggle that should not be tainted by violence.

In Jakarta, some 100 Aceh activists conducted a peaceful march in support of the referendum, starting at the UN building there and ending at a busy roundabout in the centre of the city.

Aceh, a province on the westernmost tip of Sumatra island, has been wracked by violence involving security forces and armed separatist rebels who have been fighting for an independent Islamic state since 1976.

Resentment against Jakarta and the Indonesian military has grown after a decade of brutal anti-rebel military operations in Aceh and has been further fuelled by dissatisfaction over the exploitation of Aceh's natural resources.

More than 300 people, including scores of soldiers have been killed since May when renewed violence broke out following the shooting by the security forces of 41 civilians during a protest in North Aceh.

The discontent has led to mounting calls for a referendum on self-determination.

The new government of President Abdurrahman Wahid, elected last month, has promised wider autonomy for the country's disparate regions, including Aceh.

In August, East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia in a ballot organised by the United Nations. The Indonesian parliament ratified the vote last month.