Acehnese rebels have said they are willing to put their demand for secession on hold if Indonesia accepts a "face-saving" formula that would allow the tsunami-hit province to hold an independence referendum within five to 10 years.

The two sides held talks over the weekend in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, to consider a possible ceasefire and to reopen a peace process that was brutally broken in May 2003 by the Indonesian military. Although the meeting ended inconclusively, both sides have said negotiations will resume in February.

Teungku Adam, a rebel commander in Aceh who said he had been in touch with rebel negotiators in Scandinavia, said the Indonesian side wanted them to accept an autonomy package before agreeing to a formal ceasefire.

Adam said that when talks resume on February 21, the Indonesian delegation will present the details of the autonomy package for the province of 4.1 million people on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

"We will give them a face-saving deal – both sides will have to agree on a referendum within five or 10 years, and that will give the Indonesians an opportunity to win hearts and minds if they can do," Adam told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Although Free Aceh Movement separatists have in the past said they wanted a referendum on self-determination for Aceh, they never set a time frame for the plebiscite until now.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the fighting that broke out in 1976. At least 15,000 have perished in the past decade.