President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia said yesterday the people of the volatile province of Aceh had the right to an East Timor style referendum, but that his government would not be pushed into a vote. "I don't know what time, but I support a referendum of course. That's their right. If we can do that in East Timor, why can't we do that in Aceh?" Mr Wahid told a press conference here.
"But that's not the question. The question is, if there is a referendum, when. And we do not like to be rushed by these things."
There was "also a question of whether there will be a referendum or not. It is not decided by me, but the Aceh people themselves, so we have to develop a way to know the feelings of the Acehnese on this."
But the Foreign Minister, Mr Alwi Shihab, qualified President Wahid's statement at the same press conference, saying the President's comments did not necessarily constitute an offer.
"The principle and the spirit are there. They have the right as people but that doesn't mean it should take place before or prior to a consultation with all parties involved - bureaucrats and the military."
Mr Wahid's comments came after a week of tumultuous developments on Aceh which saw the military promise to end its tough tactics there and several large demonstrations demanding a referendum - one of which ended with troops opening fire and injuring 19 people.
Mr Shihab said he thought any decision on an Aceh referendum would have to be made by all the people of Indonesia, and he also raised fears about the possible break-up of the country.
"You have to know that you are opening the gates, which means that disintegration will be in place," he said.
He did not believe the Acehnese wanted to quit Indonesia and that they could be satisfied if a solution could be found to the "injustice and military malpractice" they had suffered.
The softer security approach appeared to be in evidence in East Aceh yesterday when more than 15,000 Acehnese protesters were allowed to parade through the town of Sigli for hours to demand a referendum.
The chairman of Aceh Merdeka, the Aceh freedom movement, Mr Husaini Hasan, based in Sweden, told the Strategist Oil Report this week he could not rule out attacks on oil and gas companies in Aceh if they supported military operations against civilians.
The heavily-guarded installations have been largely spared in the conflict so far.