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Yahoo! Singapore - News Asia

Thursday, November 4 10:47 PM SGT

Indonesian president says Acehnese have right to referendum

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Thursday the people of the volatile province of Aceh had the right to an East Timor style referendum, but that his government would not be pushed into a vote.

"I don't know what time, but I support a referendum of course. That's their right. If we can do that in East Timor, why can't we do that in Aceh," Wahid told a press conference here.

"But that's not the question. The question is, if there is a referendum, when. And we do not like to be rushed by these things."

There is "also a question of whether there will be a referendum, or not. It is not decided by me, but the Aceh people themselves, so we have to develop a way to know the feelings of the Acehnese on this."

But Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab qualified Wahid's statement at the same press conference, saying the president's comments did not necessarily constitute an offer.

"The principle and the spirit are there. They have the right as people but that doesn't mean it should take place before or prior to a consulation with all parties involved -- bureaucrats and the military."

Wahid's comments came after a week of tumultuous developments on Aceh which saw the military promise to end its tough tactics there and several large demonstrations demanding a referendum -- one of which ended with troops opening fire and injuring 19 people.

Wahid has put mounting demands for a referendum in the oil and gas-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island at the top of his agenda since taking office two weeks ago and at the weekend received members of the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement) for the first time.

The August 30 UN-sponsored ballot in which the people of East Timor voted to break free of Indonesia has raised fears of the Balkanization of Indonesia, a vast and unwieldy archipelago of around 13,000 islands scattered across almost 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles).

Many in the powerful military opposed the Timor vote, fearful it would fuel separatist movements in areas such as Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Shihab said he thought any decision on an Aceh referendum would have to be decided by all the people of Indonesia, and he also raised fears about the possible breakup of the country.

"You have to know that you are opening the gates, which means that disintegration will be in place," he said.

He said he himself did not believe the Acehnese wanted to quit Indonesia and that they could be satisfied if a solution could be found to the "injustice and military malpractice" they had suffered.

The Indonesian military has been accused of decades of gross human rights abuses against the population in Aceh, which has long resented not receiving a fair share of the province's huge oil and gas wealth.

New Indonesian military chief Widodo on Thursday promised to abandon the military's tough methods of combating unrest in the province. He has already pledged to withdraw feared special forces troops.

"I truly understand that maybe the security approach alone is quite incorrect," said Widodo at a ceremony to mark the handover of power from former armed forces chief General Wiranto.

He called for better communication to create an atmosphere for dialogue.

The softer approach appeared to be in evidence in East Aceh on Thursday when more than 15,000 Acehnese protestors were allowed to parade through the town of Sigli for hours to demand a referendum.

The massive peaceful protest was the second in two weeks, but was in sharp contrast to a violent demonstration in West Aceh Tuesday where security forces opened fire on protestors who had burned down government buildings.

Shihab was asked if force would be used to quell protests if they continued.

"No, no, force and violence are behind us, we would like to use a persuasive approach," he replied.

The Aceh Merdeka has been fighting a 23-year battle for an independent Islamic state in the province, and at least 260 people have died in unrest in the province since May.

In a new development, Aceh Merdeka chairman Husaini Hasan, based in Sweden, told the Strategist Oil Report this week he could not rule out attacks on oil and gas companies in Aceh if they supported military operations against civilians.

The heavily-guarded installations have been largely spared in the conflict so far.