Bali blast suspect leader lives openly in Indonesia

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KUALA LUMPUR The Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), named by Australia as a suspect in the bombing massacre in Bali, is an al-Qaeda linked group whose alleged leader lives openly in Indonesia despite intense international pressure for his arrest.

Warnings that JI was planning major terrorist attacks have come thick and fast recently, from countries including Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.

All three have pointed to Indonesian Islamic cleric Abubakar Ba'asyir as a leader of the organisation, but the Indonesian government has said it had no evidence against him, and he has sued Time magazine for making a similar accusation.

Less than a week ago, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said during a regional meeting in Malaysia: "The organisation that we are most concerned about is a group called Jemaah Islamiyah. We think Ba'asyir is a significant figure in JI."

On Sunday, after the blast at Indonesia's Bali tourist resort killed at least 150 people, many of them believed to be Australians, Downer said: "Jemaah Islamiyah does have links to al-Qaeda and it's conceivable that an organisation like that could be behind this action."

Australia is one of Washington's staunchest supporters in the war launched against al-Qaeda following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

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