Jakarta – The Indonesian military threatened Thursday to take action against rebels in the restive province of Aceh if they lower the national flag on the December 4 separatist anniversary there, a report said.

"They will have to face the TNI (the Indonesian military). There is only one choice, to kill or to be killed," the military's chief spokesman Major General Sudrajat was quoted by the official Antara news agency as saying.

Sudrajat said soldiers will rehoist any flags taken down by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for an independent Islamic state for the staunchly Muslim province since 1976.

"We'll go there, fly the Indonesian flag again and take down the GAM's flag," he said, addressing a seminar at a state university here.

He said Indonesia's sovereignty was at stake, with the local government no longer functioning and "people killing, torching buildings and schools as they like."

"Are we just to abandon our sovereignty [in Aceh] and go home like we did in East Timor or we retain it?," he asked. "The TNI is ready to retain it and this must be done through a political decision," he said without elaborating.

GAM has said it plans to raise its own flag in the province on December 4 to mark the anniversary.