Indonesian police have arrested a leading pro-independence activist in Aceh province after accusing him of organising an unauthorised rally.

Muhammad Nazar, chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), was detained after six policemen kicked down the door of his home at 1.30 am, according to his wife.

He was arrested for holding a rally without a police permit at Lhokseumawe in North Aceh two weeks ago, said precinct deputy police chief Commissioner Ari Rahman.

"The arrest is related to a police wanted list issued in North Aceh two weeks ago which Nazar is on. He has also mobilised people and carried out public incitement," Rahman told AFP.

SIRA has campaigned peacefully for a referendum on independence in the province on the tip of Sumatra island.

A peace deal between the government and armed separatist rebels has been in force for two months. The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) says it began disarming on Sunday under the demilitarisation phase of the pact.

Nazar's wife, Dewi Meuthia, said the armed policemen kicked down the door of their house at Lampulo Baru near Banda Aceh and took her husband away in handcuffs.

She said the police, who had an arrest warrant, shouted obscenities at her and at a SIRA activist who was spending the night in the house.

David Gorman, representative in Aceh of the Henry Dunant Centre which brokered the truce with GAM, said he had received reports of Nazar's arrest but did not have full details. But "I think giving a public speech is not wrong," Gorman said.

Nazar in March 2001 was jailed for 10 months for sedition for seeking a vote on self-rule. He was arrested in November 2000 after SIRA organized pro-referendum mass rallies in Jakarta.

The group also organised a peaceful rally attracting hundreds of thousands of people in the provincial capital Banda Aceh in 1999.