Anna Peltola, Stockholm – Rebels in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua hope the separatist war in distant Aceh will bring their demands into the international limelight, a spokesman said Wednesday.

The Christian rebel group Free Papua Organization has waged a protracted, low-level guerrilla war for independence in remote but resource-rich Papua, one of several trouble spots in the world's most populous Muslim country. "Diplomatically, we can maybe use this as a platform to show the world what Indonesia's true face is," Free Papua Organization spokesman Joseph Prai told Reuters in a telephone interview from Malmo in southern Sweden.

Prai's father, rebel leader Jakob Prai, has directed the guerrilla war for more than 20 years from exile in Sweden but the son is gradually taking over responsibility. Both are friendly with key figures of the Free Aceh Movement. The Acehnese rebel group's leaders live in Stockholm and command their troops 6,200 miles away, keeping in daily contact mainly by text messages. "Politically, I don't think there will be much of a direct impact on our situation," Prai said.

His comments came on the day Indonesia closed the waters around Aceh to prevent gun imports. Two-and-a-half weeks of war in the province have killed scores of people. "Our situation is different from Aceh. We have more natural resources, and there are more economic interests from around the world," Prai said.

The largely Christian province has oil reserves and the world's biggest gold and copper mine, owned by US-based Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold Inc. Prai said with the world focused on Iraq, the Papuan rebels would wait for the right moment to draw attention to their cause. He would not say whether they planned military action.

The Papuan group opposes a decree issued by nationalist President Megawati Sukarnoputri in January that would split Papua into three provinces. "They are scared we Papuans will be strong as a nation. Dividing our province into three provinces is one way to create disorder between the Papuans," Prai said. Prai said he understood the implementation of the decree had been postponed until after April 2004 elections to avoid unrest. "Now the focus is on Aceh and they [Jakarta] don't want to create more tension in the region," he said.

No country officially supports the Papuan separatists but many in the West have criticized Indonesia's heavy-handed approach to the conflict in Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya.