Marianne Kearney, Banda Aceh – Aceh's landmark ceasefire is in danger of faltering as the two sides argue about how to monitor whether each side – the Indonesian army and the separatist rebels – keep to the agreement which went into effect last Friday.

While the former enemies have agreed to end their military operations during the duration of the three-month ceasefire, they still cannot, as one police member joked, sit at the same table yet, and they still have not agreed on what exactly is the definition of a ceasefire in the first place.

To Indonesia's security team, raising of the red and blue striped Free Aceh flags, now flying from telegraph poles from Banda Aceh in the north to Medan, is a violation of the ceasefire. But to the separatists, who deny that their soldiers erected all of the flags in dispute, this is just a spontaneous expression of happiness at unfolding events or, at worst, political campaigning.

The mini-deadlock comes amid allegations from the separatists that police in North Aceh stole motorcycles and extorted money from villagers when they entered a village on Sunday. Indonesian police said yesterday that separatists armed with grenades entered a government office and threatened to explode the grenades if they were not given money and two government vehicles.

Both sides claim they want the Humanitarian Pause, as it is officially called, to run smoothly, but both teams are putting up significant obstacles to actually reaching a workable agreement.

The Free Aceh's security team said the police should only carry out their operations according to international standards – obviously an impossible request within a three-month timeframe given the standard of training in the Indonesian police service.

But Indonesian spokesman Colonel Ridwan Karim said the agreement allows military troops to participate in patrols or law enforcement if the police request back-up troops, and they are under police command.

And despite the huge concessions made by the Indonesian government in agreeing to negotiate with the rebel movement, the separatists' security team accuses Indonesian troops of not being serious about reducing tension in the province because they continue to build roadblocks and search vehicles.

Meanwhile, ordinary people here are sceptical of whether the Free Aceh leadership is serious in keeping to the ceasefire agreement. A local activist who declined to be named said: "One scenario says that GAM (Free Aceh Movement) doesn't want the conflict to end because they become very powerful through it."

The more serious violations of the ceasefire have already dashed the high hopes of people long tired of violence. "On June 2, hopes were very high, but now they have begun to doubt a little whether they will see results," said Mr Otto Syamsuddin, from a democracy institute. "I'm still a little confused. I see the government's policy is good, but they don't carry it out," said Mr Sharif Yusuf, a hotel manager.

But analysts said that because of the presence of a "third force" – criminals and possible army deserters who have been blamed for much of the violence – both Free Aceh rebels and the military can carry out violent acts, but blame it on this unknown group.

In the region around Banda Aceh, this has already started. According to reports, while police tried to remove a Free Aceh flag from the local police station last Saturday, two masked men began shooting nearby. These men were caught and found to have been soldiers whom they suspect erected the flag in the first place.