Associated Press in Sydney – Protesters seeking independence for the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh called on Saturday for Australia to cut military links with Jakarta to protest alleged human rights abuses.

More than 100 pro-independence demonstrators made the demand at a protest outside the Australian Department of Defence in downtown Sydney.

Student activist Kautsar, visiting from the province, said reports of religious and racial infighting in the region were false. "In Aceh it is a conflict between the people and the Indonesian government ... not an ethnic and religious conflict – that is a lie," said Mr Kautsar, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

Protest organiser Muhammad Dahlan said the Australian government needed to send a clear message to Jakarta, which he accused of orchestrating a campaign of human rights abuses by the Indonesian military in Aceh. The Australian government did not immediately react to the protest.