Jakarta – Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province confirmed they would discuss Jakarta's autonomy law in future peace talks but denied they are softening calls for independence.

"We want full independence for Aceh," Sofyan Daud, a spokesman for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said Tuesday. "GAM agreed to discuss autonomy as a starting point for talks but it doesn't mean we accept it. If someone suggested that we will accept autonomy, that's a lie," Daud told AFP. Acehnese must be asked whether or not they want autonomy through a referendum, he added.

Two days of talks between the Indonesian government and GAM in Switzerland ended Sunday without any deals but with both sides agreeing to meet again in 30 days. The agreement, a copy of which was received by AFP, said the two sides would "use the NAD [the autonomy law] as a starting point for discussions." They also "agreed to a period of confidence-building in which they will cease hostilities and then move towards democratic elections in Aceh in 2004" and to "respect the desire of the people of Aceh to govern themselves peacefully."

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Monday described as "positive" the fact that the rebels are willing to discuss the autonomy law as the basis for future talks.

Daud warned that GAM guerrillas would only respect the agreement if police and troops stopped anti-rebel operations. He said the revival of a separate military command for the energy-rich province amounted to "the first and biggest violation of the agreement."

Army chief General Endriartono Sutarto officially inaugurated the command on Tuesday despite criticism from rights groups. In a brief ceremony in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, Sutarto also appointed the current chief of military operations in Aceh, Brigadier General Djali Yusuf, to head the new command.

After the separate military command was disbanded in 1985, operations had been overseen from Medan in neighbouring North Sumatra. Human rights activists have widely criticised the government move as a misguided attempt to impose a military solution on the separatist struggle.

GAM has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the province since 1976. Yusuf has led the anti-rebel operations since they were re-launched in April last year.

The inauguration ceremony was held at the former headquarters of the disbanded military command. Traffic and pedestrians were barred from surrounding streets.

Rights groups say the revived command will only exacerbate violence in Aceh where more than 1,700 people were killed last year alone. Close to 200 people have already died this year. The critics also say the move contradicts the military's plans to disband separate commands across the archipelago over the next decade.

Jakarta last year granted Aceh greater self-rule and a larger share of its oil and gas revenues as part of efforts to curb pro-independence sentiment. It also allowed the province to implement Islamic law but insisted that it will not permit independence.