The new commander of the Indonesian armed forces, Admiral Widodo, has said a military solution cannot solve the conflict in the troubled province of Aceh and has pledged to withdraw many of the forces stationed there.

Jonathan Head reports on the challenge facing the Indonesian government in Aceh

Admiral Widodo's statement is a welcome sign for the Acehnese people of new thinking inside the military.

Nineteen people were injured in Meulaboh on Tuesday when troops opened fire on thousands of protestors demanding a referendum on self-determination.

Several buildings, including the local parliament, were set on fire by the demonstrators. The situation was later reported as "calm but tense".

A giant banner demanding a referendum

The conflict in Aceh has over the past 10 years claimed thousands of lives and caused bitter hostility towards the central government. This has allowed the hardline Free Aceh Movement to flourish.

Last year, the army officially ended its special military operation in the province, during which the people were subjected to a horrific catalogue of human rights abuses.

For the first time, human rights groups were able to dig up the mass graves where the victims were buried.

But this year, the military has been accused of renewed attacks on civilians which have forced a 150,000 people to flee their homes.

Unarmed villagers killed

Burning the Indonesian flag: the separatist movement is increasingly assertive

A report by local human rights groups into one incident in May, in which more than 50 people were killed, concluded that soldiers had opened fire without provocation on unarmed villagers.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has taken a personal interest in ending the conflict. He has ordered the military to pull out special combat troops and police and to find out which of its personnel were responsible for the killings.

He has also started informal contacts with members of the separatist movement. But it isn't yet clear what kind of compromise between the two sides might be possible.