Jakarta – Lieutenant-General Ryamizard Ryacudu, the outspoken Kostrad commander who took a tough public stance against separatist revolts in Aceh and Papua, has been named as Indonesia's new army chief.

A military spokesman, Major-General Syafrie Syamsuddin, said Lt-Gen Ryamizard would be sworn in today and would be promoted to full general when he takes up the post on Thursday. He will replace the current chief of staff, General Endriatono Sutarto, who is to become head of the Indonesian military.

In the past year, Lt-Gen Ryamizard, 52, has called often for military-led crackdowns on rebels fighting for the independence of resource-rich Aceh province, about 1,750 km north-west of Jakarta.

After Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri became Indonesia's President last year, the military launched a bloody offensive in Aceh. At least 500 people have been killed this year.

Both the new chief-of-staff and Gen Endriatono before him supported parliamentary moves to topple Ms Megawati's predecessor, Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, who had introduced reforms to curb the influence of the military in civilian affairs.

University of Indonesia political analyst Arbi Sanit said Lt-Gen Ryamizard's appointment by Ms Megawati was "her way of paying her debts". He was "the right man for the job" because the army needed to be headed by a stern soldier, said Gajah Mada University political analyst Affan Gafar.

Lt-Gen Ryamizard graduated from Indonesia's military academy in 1974. He led Indonesian forces on United Nations peacekeeping duty in Cambodia in the early 1990s.