Pandrah Kandeh, Indonesia – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province held peaceful flag-raising ceremonies Saturday in their jungle bases to mark their 23rd anniverary, which was marred only by an incident which left seven injured.
Earlier fears of widespread violence which sent thousands fleeing the country's westernmost province proved unfounded, as residents heeded separatist calls to keep all ceremonies low-key and violence-free.
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) ordered people not to raise their red and black flag in public in order not to enrage the military, and to mark the day with prayers sessions in mosques.
The province's major cities including the capital Banda Aceh where last month a million people rallied to call for a referendum on self-determination were mostly deserted for most of Saturday, with stores closed, and few soldiers out on the streets.
Flags put up outside houses along the the Banda Aceh to Medan road in North Aceh were taken down by security forces Saturday, but in Pidie, the separatist flags were left undisturbed.
But flag-raising ceremonies went ahead untroubled at various jungle rebel bases including the Tiro rebel command base in this isolated North Aceh village.
About 1,000 rebels in uniforms, including some 135 veiled women, and 1,500 civilians watched as the separatist flag was raised to the accompaniment of Islamic prayers.
Across the province, mosques were buzzing with prayers and recitals of holy Koranic verses. Tens of thousands had held all-night prayer sessions across the province.
In Sigli, in Pidie district, a shooting at a military post left three people wounded by bullets and four others hurt after they fell off a truck when scuffles broke as soldiers tried to halt a celebratory convoy of cars and motorcycles, Antara said.
"The injured victims are under intensive care in Sigli hospital," a hospital source told the agency. "But the local leaders have appeased the crowd and so far there has been no other reports of incidents," Pidie district chief I.S. Djaffar told AFP.
Exiled GAM leader Tengku Hasan di Tiro seized the occasion to call on the Acehnese to be ready to fight for freedom. "I remind you all, do not ever be caught unprepared by the political tricks and the military threat against us," di Tiro said in a brief statement read out at ceremonies.
"I call on all citizens of Aceh, men and women, old and young, to get ready to fight the enemy if they attack us. We will turn each inch of our homeland into a war zone," said di Tiro, who has lived in exile in Sweden since the 1970s.
The Tiro Command Post is the seat of GAM commander Abdullah Syafeii, who has led armed resistance to the Indonesian military since the birth of the movement on December 4, 1976.
Syafeii, addressing the crowd here, said GAM aimed to set "the sons and grandsons of our ancestors free, noble and sovereign in our own sacred homeland."
Rebels had given the government until Saturday to make a decision on holding a ballot, warning it must include the option of independence.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has so far ruled out a referendum on independence and has warned Jakarta would take repressive actions against any efforts in Aceh to break away from the country.
But he remained confident the territory would never secede from Indonesia. "The Free Aceh Movement may celebrate its 23rd anniversary but the special region of Aceh will remain part of Indonesia," Wahid told journalists as he flew home after a state visit to China.