Jakarta – The Indonesian government will soon re-evaluate whether it is necessary to maintain martial law in the war-torn province of Aceh, a senior cabinet minister said Monday.

Hari Sabarno, acting minister for security and political affairs, said the evaluation would be conducted within the next one to two weeks to determine whether martial law was still necessary in the rebellious province.

"We will listen on reports from the province and discuss the latest situation with the martial law authorities [in Aceh]," the state-run Antara news agency quoted Sabarno as saying.

The report added that the meeting would also discuss the implementation of the April 5 general election in Aceh, which was carried out relatively peacefully but with only limited access allowed for vote monitors to assure the polling was free and fair.

Sabarno said the re-evaluation of Aceh's martial law status was necessary as it is currently scheduled to end on May 19.

He refused to discuss the possibility of revoking martial law in Aceh, Indonesia's northwesternmost province on the massive island of Sumatra. "Just wait and see. We're hoping that [the martial law] will be reduced," he added.

The Indonesian government last November decided to extend martial law in Aceh by another six months, arguing that the first six months of martial law had been insufficient to crush the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

On May 19, 2003, the government imposed martial law in Aceh, 1,750 kilometres northwest of Jakarta.