Bireun – Separatists in Indonesia's Aceh province commemorated the 26th anniversary of their fight on Wednesday with at least one military flag-raising ceremony and vows to keep fighting Jakarta's rule.
Security forces had said they would take tough action if Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels defied a ban on celebrations, stirring fears a crackdown would threaten a fledgling peace process.
The Indonesian government and the rebels are expected to sign a landmark peace treaty in Geneva on Monday.
But with no major incident by nightfall, the day proved calm by the standards of the restive province, where thousands have died over the decades of fighting.
Earlier, about 300 rebels from GAM's military wing ignored the ban on celebrations and pledged to fight until they had won an independent Aceh state on the northern tip of Sumatra island. Their ceremony ended without any disturbances.
"If Aceh wants to be prosperous, the Acehnese people must be independent from Indonesian colonisation," GAM regional commander Darwis Jeunieb told his camouflage-clad troops in a field near the town of Bireun, 150 km from the provincial capital Banda Aceh.
Jeunieb read a message from GAM leader Hasan Tiro, who, from exile in Stockholm criticised Indonesia for "killing 2,000 innocent people this year ... 10 a day". Tiro said the talks between GAM and Indonesia, which have run for more than two years in Switzerland, had been disappointing.
"This effort has disappointed us because of Indonesia's attitude which can't be trusted ... [they] have always cheatingly destroyed agreed pacts," Tiro said. "We are not afraid of the colonialists ... if needed, we will carry on this war until our independence dreams are fulfilled."
While other elements of GAM are more conciliatory and the group's official negotiators are expected to sign the treaty on Monday, Tiro's comments illustrated the possible difficulty in implementing it.
International aid donors met in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss aid for the province. The meeting sponsored by Japan, the United States, the European Union and the World Bank was intended to offer an incentive to negotiators to reach a final peace deal.
Calm in capital
Many of Aceh's four million people want independence, but most appear to yearn for peace and an accounting of abuses under the harsh rule of former President Suharto, which ended in 1998.
Past peace agreements have failed but analysts say the Geneva deal has a better chance because of strong international backing and the desire of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government to show progress toward stability.
In Banda Aceh, 1,700 km northwest of Jakarta, witnesses said the city was calm and shops that closed in the morning because of fear of trouble were reopening.
Bomb squads patrolling the streets earlier have disappeared and no separatist flags were visible, although one GAM flag – a white crescent and star and black stripes on a red background – was raised in a village about five km from the city centre.
Police said they confiscated GAM flags in 28 places but there was no major incident.
"There was a ceremony deep in the woods but it was among themselves and no incident came out from that. This is a good sign before the agreement because earlier threats on security were not proven," said police spokesman Taufik Sugiyono.
The position of the police has tended to be more conciliatory than that of the military. On Tuesday, Aceh military commander Djali Yusuf said any celebration would be met with force.
"No ceremonies. No flags. We will attack if we catch them. We're searching their positions wherever they are," Yusuf said.
The only known casualty on Tuesday was a member of the elite police Brimob unit who was killed by a booby trap when he tried to take a GAM flag down from a tree in northern Aceh.
On previous anniversaries, GAM flags have fluttered from houses and electricity poles and GAM troops have marked the day with military ceremonies around the province.