August 17, 2007	Friday	Sha’aban 3, 1428

JAKARTA, Aug 16: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday warned that his government has no tolerance for separatist sentiment in the world's largest archipelagic country.

“The state will remain firm. There is no space for anyone to engage in separatism that threatens the sovereignty and integrity of the state,” Yudhoyono said in his annual state-of-the-nation address at parliament.

Indonesia curbed separatism in the country's westernmost province of Aceh by signing a peace pact in 2005 that ended almost three decades of violent conflict with the rebel Free Aceh Movement.

A former rebel leader has since been elected as governor of the province. Recent minor incidents there, such as the pulling down of more than 200 Indonesian flags ahead of the country's day independence day on Friday, were dismissed by Yudhoyono as to be expected.

“It is only normal if some tension and misunderstanding continue between sides who have been in conflict for over 30 years, because trust-building is still in progress,” Yudhoyono said.

Pro-independence sentiment also continues to simmer at the eastern end of the archipelago in the provinces of Papua and West Papua, fuelled by alleged human rights violations by security forces.—AFP