Banda Aceh – Inspired by East Timor's independence referendum, students occupied a government building Monday, demanding a similar vote in the violence-torn Indonesian province of Aceh.

President B.J. Habibie, however, repeated that he would not allow a referendum in Aceh where hundreds have been killed this year in fighting between the military and separatists.

Opposition leader Amien Rais said Habibie told a meeting of political party leaders Monday: "There will be no referendum there this year, in the next five years or even next ten years." Officials here have expressed fears that Monday's referendum in East Timor could encourage rebels elsewhere in this far-flung archipelago, where at least three areas have separatist movements.

In Aceh, around 500 university students seized the lobby of the provincial parliament building for about two hours Monday, carrying banners saying "Get the armed forces out of Aceh" and "Referendum, yes." More than 50 riot police stood nearby, but did not take any action. The pro-independence students eventually left the lobby for a march through the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Aceh, at the northwestern tip of the country about 1,100 miles from Jakarta, is rich in oil and natural gas deposits. Besides it and East Timor, the region of Irian Jaya also has seen separatist violence.