Jakarta – Some 200 people seeking independence for Irian Jaya marched into the parliament complex Thursday as President Abdurrahman Wahid renewed his support for a referendum in Aceh province, witnesses said.

The demonstrators, both men and women, got into the complex in central Jakarta while the house was in session, but did not enter the chamber itself.

The protesters, some of whom were wearing the traditional dress of Irian Jaya, a huge province bordering independent Papua New Guina, carried placards reading: "Autonomy, federalism no, independence yes", an AFP reporter said.

Another placard which read "West Papuan women have no freedom" – a reference to past human rights abuses by Indonesian military during operations against separatists there – was held aloft by the group.

The group, shouting "thieves" then tried to chase the cars carrying Wahid and vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri as they left the complex.

The group's coordinator, Hengky Yoku, told AFP that residents across the province planned "to raise the Morning Star [separatist] flag which will be flanked by the Indonesian and United Nations flags" on December 1.

"West Papua has stood independent since December 12, 1961 ... but we were later annexed by Indonesia under the pretence that [the move] was to maintain stability in Southeast Asia from communist influence," Yoku said. The group also demanded in a statement that Jakarta pull the police and military out of the country's easternmost province.

Irian Jaya, formerly Dutch New Guinea, has seen rising protests in the past two years, most recently against Jakarta's move to split the huge province into three.

A Free Papua state was declared by Irian Jaya leaders of the Free Papua (OPM) while the territory was under Dutch occupation on December 1, 1961.

But Indonesia claimed Dutch New Guinea as its 26th province in 1963 and after UN-supervised polls there the following year, the United Nations recognised Indonesia's sovereignty over Irian Jaya in 1969.

Several Irianese leaders visited Jakarta in August to brief then president B.J. Habibie on their calls for independence, but he said the state should remain united with Indonesia.