Geoff Spencer, Jayapura – Police used tear gas outside the US Embassy in Jakarta on Friday to disperse protesters wanting international support for independence for remote Irian Jaya.

But 2,400 miles away in the restive Indonesian province itself, thousands of separatists – cowered by a massive security clampdown and the arrests of their leaders on subversion charges – stopped short of demanding the same. Watched over by hundreds of police and troops, they obeyed government orders not to publicly declare secession.

Their day of peaceful protest in the provincial capital, Jayapura, ended after dark when police lowered an outlawed rebel flag without provoking violence from the crowd, which initially had refused to bring it down.

Past attempts by police to haul down flags have ended in bloodshed, including the killings of about 40 people in the town of Wamena in October. Some protesters sobbed as their "Morning Star" ensign stopped flying.

"We allowed them to lower it to protect our people's safety," said Katerina Yabansubru, a senior pro-independence activist. "It is only a symbol. It doesn't mean our freedom struggle is over."

The controlled calm was not matched in the capital, Jakarta, when police clashed with about 200 separatists near the US Embassy. The protesters demanded Washington support self-determination for their jungle-covered and mineral-rich homeland, also known as West Papua.

Friday was the 39th anniversary of Irian Jaya's first attempt to form a nation. Tribal leaders in what was then Dutch New Guinea demanded an end to colonial rule on December 1, 1961. Indonesia occupied the province two years later and has fought rebels ever since.