Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – Indonesia lifted martial law in the restive province of Aceh yesterday, a year after it launched its biggest military operation since the 1975 invasion of East Timor in an attempt to end a separatist rebellion.

But the move to downgrade the situation in Aceh to a civil emergency was criticised as being motivated by politics more than practicality and raised questions over what changes, if any, the new status would bring.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri is preparing for presidential elections that begin on July 5. Announcing the decision on Aceh late on Tuesday, she said the threat posed by separatists had "been broken by the Indonesian military and police".

Analysts and diplomats said security in Aceh had improved as a result of the year-long military campaign. However, they said civil emergency status was unlikely to change the situation on the ground or end the military operations, which have been blamed for a series of human rights abuses.

There are no plans to pull out any of the more than 40,000 security forces deployed to the province. "If you look at the decree, nothing has changed except for the name," said one diplomat.

Indonesia's military claims it has killed more than 2,000 members of the Free Aceh Movement, or Gam, in the past year and to have 3 detained a similar number.

Those numbers are impossible to verify and human rights groups have said they believe many of those killed were civilians. Jakarta claimed Gam's total membership stood at about 5,000 when operations began.

Questions are also being raised about Mrs Megawati's decision to restore Abdullah Puteh, the province's civilian governor, to power as martial law is lifted. Mr Puteh is the subject of at least three corruption investigations.

[Additional reporting by Taufan Hidayat.]