Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono insisted Friday Jakarta would never allow Aceh province to separate from the rest of Indonesia, but said a government plan to give the region a greater say in running its affairs must be implemented.

Yudhoyono's comments came as Acehnese rebels and government negotiators met in Finland for a fourth day of talks to find a lasting peace in the province, which lost more than 100,000 people in the Dec. 26 tsunami.

"The unitary state of the Indonesian republic must be maintained and the red and white flag must fly [in Aceh]," Yudhoyono said in a speech to government security advisers. Red and white are the colors of the Indonesian flag.

The Free Aceh Movement, which claims about 5,000 fighters, has been fighting for 27 years for a separate homeland in the oil- and gas-rich region. More than 12,000 people have been killed.

The tsunami disaster brought the two sides to the negotiating table. While both say they are committed to a peaceful solution, analysts say the obstacles to peace remain large and that arguments over details could easily derail the process.

Yudhoyono, a former military general, said the government's policy of "special autonomy" for Aceh must be implemented. Rebel negotiators have said they prefer the term "self-government" to "special autonomy."

While the details of both plans are not yet clear, Yudhoyono's use of the term indicates the government is unwilling to meet the rebels' request, and the issue could be a sticking point in the talks.

After the Dec. 26 tsunami, the rebels proclaimed a unilateral truce saying they wanted to help rescue efforts. But the Indonesian military has continued combat operations.

In January, the two sides met face-to-face for the first time since the peace process collapsed in 2003, when the Indonesian military launched a major offensive against insurgents that has since killed about 3,000 people

A second round of talks was held in late February. Each have been held in Helsinki.

Support for the rebellion in the province is difficult to gauge, but successive brutal military campaigns to wipe out the insurgents have alienated large sections of its mostly poor 4.1 million people.