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Thursday November 4
5:16 PM ET
Aceh Rally Urges Independence Vote
By SLOBODAN LEKIC Associated Press Writer SIGLI, Indonesia (AP) - Demanding an independence vote, more than 50,000 people rallied peacefully Thursday in Indonesia's westernmost province, banging drums and chanting ``Referendum! Freedom! Independent state!'' The march through Sigli, a market town in Aceh province, was the biggest demonstration since Indonesia's new government came to power two weeks ago. Organizers said it was designed to increase pressure on President Abdurrahman Wahid, who in the past promised to support a plebiscite for the province of 4.3 million people but has since backtracked. Wahid already has made concessions, granting Aceh more autonomy, opening talks with the rebel Free Aceh Movement and withdrawing soldiers who were sent in to quell the rebellion. On Thursday, the military said the pullout would be completed by the end of the month and named an Acehnese to the country's No. 2 military post. However, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Sudrajat said it was unrealistic for Aceh to expect an independence referendum. He said Indonesia has ruled the territory for so long that it would never give it up. The word ``referendum'' was written everywhere in and around Sigli, normally a town of 20,000 people - on whitewashed walls, on stilts holding up traditional wooden houses, on telephone poles, on banners hanging from street signs and in huge white letters on the streets. ``We have had enough of Javanese colonial rule,'' said a member of the guerrilla group that helped organize the rally, asking not to be named for fear of retribution. ``We will fight until they give in.'' About 2,000 trucks, vans and pickups - packed with people carrying broken-off palm branches to shield themselves from the scorching sun - drove through Sigli to call for independence. Indonesian soldiers looked on sullenly as the noisy procession snaked past their headquarters. In contrast, local policemen waved back at the demonstrators and held up clenched fists, a symbol of the resistance movement. The rally followed a visit to the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Tuesday by several Acehnese regional parliamentarians, who delivered this ultimatum to the government: agree within one month to hold an independence referendum or residents will conduct their own. Independence activists claim Aceh has never really been a part of Indonesia - like East Timor, whose residents voted for independence in a U.N.-sponsored ballot on Aug. 30. Aceh residents complain about the government siphoning off most proceeds from the province's rich oil and natural gas deposits and brutally repressing the separatist movement. Foreign Affairs Minister Alwi Shihab said the government was looking at ways to better Aceh's quality of life, including increasing the revenue from the oil and gas sales. But both Shahib and Wahid warned that granting Aceh a referendum could doom Indonesia, a sprawling, ethnically diverse country of 210 million people that also has separatist movements in Irian Jaya and Ambon. ``If you open the gate, disintegration will be in place,'' Shahib said. Wahid told reporters that while he supports the principle of holding a referendum, in practice it would not work. Indonesia has just ceded control over East Timor, a former Portuguese colony it invaded in 1975. While East Timor is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, Aceh is staunchly Islamic. Most Indonesians are Muslim, but people in Aceh practice a stricter form of Islam than the rest of Indonesia. Dutch troops occupied Aceh a century ago after a long and bitter
colonial war. After World War II, when Indonesia declared independence,
Aceh was promised autonomy. But that never came. The Acehnese reacted with
a series of rebellions; the current one began a decade ago.
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