Killings, protest mar Megawati's start

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Separatist leaders in a flashpoint region have accused Indonesia's new president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, of ordering the military to step up its fight against insurgents.

The accusation came as two violent developments marred Megawati's first week of power, with her choice of Cabinet members expected within days.

Teargas and batons were used in the capital of Jakarta on Tuesday as demonstrators protested at a Supreme Court decision that frees Megawati to annoint some members of the Golkar party of former dictator Suharto.

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In Aceh, Government troops killed seven people on Monday at three separate locations in the western province, one of several areas where independence has long been an issue.

'Raise the flag'

Rebels said the dead were civilians. Security forces maintained they had been guerrillas.

Sofyan Daud, a rebel spokesman, said: "Megawati's government has ordered the military to force villagers to raise the Indonesian flag or be shot to death."

A security force spokesman, Lt. Col. Firdaus, said the seven dead had been guerrillas from the Free Aceh Movement, which has been fighting for independence for the gas and oil-rich region since 1975.

He did not comment on rebel claims that villagers were being forced to fly Indonesian flags under threat of death.

More than 1,000 people have been killed this year in Aceh, 1,750 kilometers (1,100 miles) northwest of Jakarta.

Links with military

Critics say Megawati has forged close links with the military and is willing to allow it to clamp down hard on the Aceh rebels.

In Jakarta on Tuesday, a protest followed a Supreme Court ruling that there was insufficient evidence to sustain an application by a group calling itself Victims of the (Suharto) New Order to dissolve the Golkar party for misconduct during the 1999 parliamentary election.

Megawati is expected to reward the party for its support with several ministries when she names her coalition cabinet this week.

Golkar is Indonesia's second-largest party after Megawati's own and played a leading role in toppling the country's first democratically elected president, Abdurrahman Wahid, last week.

Megawati is scheduled to undertake a whirlwind four-day regional tour from August 22 taking in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. Indonesia is the largest of ASEAN's 10 member nations.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.