His remarks came as the Indonesian army pledged to begin pulling troops out of the province this month.

"I support a referendum as their right. If we do it in East Timor, why not in Aceh," President Wahid told a news conference in Jakarta.

BBC News' Jonathan Head: Prospect of referendum for Aceh

But he stressed that there was no immediate prospect of holding a ballot.

The final decision, he said, would be taken by the government after consulting all parties.

"If we do it in East Timor, why not in Aceh?"

The Foreign Minister, Alwi Shihab, later clarified that the government, or the People's Consultative Assembly, would decide whether such a referendum could take place.

He conceded that under those circumstances it was extremely unlikely that Aceh would ever have a chance to decide its status under a referendum.

President Wahid: "It's not easy to propose a referendum, but the principle is there"

Ten of thousands of Acehnese took to the streets in a peaceful rally on Thursday demanding a referendum which is believed would lead the oil-rich province to independence.

Earlier this year, Indonesia gave the province of East Timor the chance to choose independence, which it did overwhelmingly, sparking widespread bloodshed in the territory and threatening Indonesia's already fragile unity.

Troop pull-out

Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab plays down the prospects of a ballot

Before the news conference, a spokesman for the Indonesian armed forces said a withdrawal of troops from Aceh would begin this month, following a demand from President Wahid earlier this week for forces in Aceh to be reduced.

The military says it will pull out what it calls non-organic forces, referring to the special units of anti-riot police and combat troops which were sent into Aceh this year to deal with the armed separatist movement there.

President Wahid has promised to take a personal role in trying to resolve the conflict in Aceh, which is thought to have cost the lives of more than 2,000 people over the past decade.

The BBC's Jonathan Head: "Thousands of people have been forced from their homes"

The Indonesian military has reacted quickly to President Wahid's demand for a new approach to Aceh.

That deployment of the anti-riot force has, by any standards, been a failure.

Around 200 civilians have been killed, many in what local people have described as unprovoked massacres.

Burning the Indonesian flag - the separatist movement is increasingly assertive

Dozens of troops have died in ambushes and around 150,000 people have fled their homes.

The military plans to leave less controversial local army units in the province. But human rights campaigners in Aceh say a troop pull-out alone is not enough.

They want all the abuses of the past to be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.