Banda Aceh – The police here forced some 300 activists of the Aceh Referendum Information Agency (SIRA) to disperse as they staged a demonstration in front of the local office of the Henry Dunant Center (HDC) on Monday, to protest the inclusion of the Philippines in the monitoring team on the implementation of the peace accord, Antara reported.

"Representatives from the Philippines would not be able to be non-partisan as the neighboring country is indebted to Indonesia for its help in dealing with the Moro rebellion in the southern Philippines," rally coordinator Reza Pahlevi said.

The peace pact was signed by the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Geneva last Dec 9.

The police said the demonstrators had not met the requirement to submit prior notice about their plans, making the planned rally illegal.

Hundreds of people – mostly from nearby Aceh Besar district – fled for fear of being arrested. The police, however, took the rally coordinator into custody for interrogation and confiscated the demonstrators' posters.

Before being taken to police headquarters, Reza showed a letter, which he claimed to have sent to the police to inform them about the planned demonstration. But, Adjutant Commissioner RA Kasenda, who led the interception party, denied that the police had received prior notice.

The HDC, which had been facilitating the peace talks, is supervising the monitoring of the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.