Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement has accused the Indonesian military (TNI) of trying to undermine a peace agreement by getting people to harass monitors overseeing the pact.

"Admissions made by some of the demonstrators themselves as well as the jargon used in the posters carried by the demonstrators clearly point to the TNI's role behind the scenes," AFP reported rebel spokesman Sofyan Dawod as saying on Wednesday.

He was referring to several protests against peace monitors in recent weeks. The separatists say the military has always opposed the peace process.

"It is thus not surprising if today they are also the ones very actively conducting underground movements to derail the peace process," said Mr Sofyan.

Aceh military spokesman Firdaus Komarno denied the allegations. "The truth is the Indonesian military has never mobilised the masses," he told AFP. He said local residents were angered by the peace monitors' failure to act against alleged extortion by the rebels.