Jakarta – Community leaders from the far-eastern Indonesian province of Irian Jaya met President B.J. Habibie on Friday, some asking for independence for the resource-rich western half of New Guinea island.

But the 100-strong delegation was split, with some members instead pushing for autonomy within Indonesia instead.

"We told him we preferred to be independent," pro-independence leader Tom Beanal told reporters after the meeting. "During 35 years with Indonesia, we are not given happiness, instead we are killed and shot."

Pro-independence activists in Melanesian Irian Jaya have taken heart from mainly Asian Indonesia's offer to consider independence for East Timor.

But Irian Jaya governor Freddy Numberg said the province needed a wide range of autonomy instead to help develop the local people, many still living a stone-age lifestyle.

"The development in Irian should be coupled with developing the people so that Irianese can be the masters in their own land," he said.

Pro-independence protests have been mounting in Irian Jaya since the resignation of former president Suharto last May amid a ravaging economic crisis.

State Secretary Akbar Tanjung said that Habibie believed independence was not the option preferred by the majority of the Irianese people and that he understood calls for more autonomy.