JAKARTA -- Separatist rebels from Indonesia's Aceh Province rejected a government ultimatum to decide when they would return to the negotiating table on Friday, saying they would reach a decision on resuming peace talks in their own time.

"Dialogue should not use ultimatums. Ultimatums are only used in war. Therefore, we call on Indonesia not to make any ultimatum," Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, a senior representative of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), told Teuters by telephone from Aceh.

"GAM will give its decision after the ultimatum has passed." The government said on Monday talks with the rebels could go ahead if they dropped their goal of independence and began to put down their arms.

Government officials also said they would give GAM up to two weeks to respond before deciding whether to abandon a December agreement aimed at bring peace to Aceh, where a simmering decades-long rebellion has killed at least 10,000 people. Asked what would happen if the government rejected talks after the two-week deadline had passed, Tiba said: "It's Indonesia's own problem."

Bringing lasting peace to resource-rich Aceh would be a boost to President Megawati Sukarnoputri's efforts to convince foreign investors and allies that under her leadership Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has become more stable.

Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, is one of two separatist hot spots in Indonesia. The other is Papua Province in the far east, Reuters reported.

The December peace pact -- which among other things called on GAM to turn in arms and the military to withdraw to defensive positions -- initially brought a sharp reduction in violence.

But in recent weeks there has been a series of violent incidents and international monitors withdrew from the field to the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, 1,700km (1,060 miles) northwest of Jakarta.

Talks to try to save the deal were scheduled for last week in Geneva, but fell through at the last minute with each side blaming the other, although an aid donor group led by the United States and Japan put the main responsibility on GAM.

Independent observers say both the government and GAM have failed to follow through on various provisions of the pact, faulting the government for not reigning in military units reluctant to comply with it.

Analysts say few Indonesians outside Aceh want the province to break away, and Megawati would not be hurt politically by a tough stand on rebel demands for independence.

But the rebels are reluctant to abandon independence and accept an autonomy deal instead, and like the Indonesian military, they have elements that have benefited financially from the long-running conflict.