Jakarta – Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the separatist-plagued Indonesian province of Aceh to demand an East Timor-style referendum on independence, a report said Friday.

The protesters – who came from all over the province in cars, motorcycles and buses – gathered Thursday at the Darussalam University in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, the Aceh-based Serambi daily newspaper said.

Speeches were made for around 90 minutes and shouts of "Long live Referendum" and "Freedom" were yelled by the crowd, said the report.

After the rally the demonstrators formed a huge parade and in a rare move police helped to direct the convoy through the streets to avoid traffic jams and made no attempt to break up the protest.

The Indonesian authorities have in the past often tried to break up such demonstrations by force, sometimes using live ammunition.

Thousands of Banda Aceh residents lined the capital's main streets chanting "God is Great" and "Freedom" as the convoy passed.

In the presence of local MPs, thousands of youths and students then gathered in front of the provincial parliament building and swore they would "fight for the integrity and value of Aceh people until their last drop of blood."

The acting chairman of Aceh's regional house of representatives, Nasir Djamil, told the students in tears their demands were testimony to the dire situation in Aceh.

"If a referendum has become the demand of the Aceh people, we will use all our might to fulfill that demand. We will support a referendum," he told the crowd, according to the paper.

New President Abdurrahman Wahid has insisted he wants to do everything possible to stop the country splitting up, but he has also signalled that he is in favour of devolving more power to the regions with a federal-type system of government.