The threat posed by the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror group is "under control" after a series of arrests, the government said today in a detailed report o­n the al-Qaeda-linked network.

The assessment was made in a briefing paper presented to a conference of Asia's top security group, the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), co-chaired by Malaysia and the United States and attended by 118 delegates from 19 nations.

Malaysia said JI, blamed for the Bali bombing in Indonesia last October which killed 202 people, wanted to establish a "Taliban-style" Islamic state spanning Malaysia, Indonesia, Mindanao in the southern Philippines, southern Thailand and Australia.

"Indonesia would serve as the administrative centre under this arrangement," Home Affairs ministry undersecretary for security Hamzah Mohamad Rus told delegates in Karambunai, Sabah.

Sabotage attacks

He said militants twice planned to attack US navy personnel o­n shore leave in Malaysia, in early 1999 and in April 2001, but the plans had been aborted.

"We have information that in mid-2001, JI elements had planned to carry out sabotage attacks at the Johor causeway linking Malaysia and Singapore.

"However the plan failed as JI had lost its support network since police arrested a majority of their members," Hamzah said.

The document said that since May 2001, Malaysian police have detained 90 militant suspects -- 25 belonging to a local organisation called Kumpulam Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) and 65 members of JI.

"Our o­ngoing operation has successfully disrupted and weakened the network of the KMM. We are confident that threat posed by the JI is presently under control."

Hazmah said that "since its inception in 1985, there are now approximately 418 Jemaah Islamiah members scattered in small groups or cells of between eight and 10 members."

Joint operations

Malaysian police were working closely with their counterparts in Indonesia and Singapore by exchanging intelligence o­n JI activities.

"The cooperation also entails joint operations to track down key members of the militant group who have escaped the police dragnet," he said.

"Important Jemaah Islamiah members such as Dr Azahari Husin and Nordin Mohamad Top are now believed to be hiding in Indonesia."

He said both the Malaysian Militant Group and JI "subscribe to the fatwa of (al-Qaeda leader) Osama bin Laden that made United States' interests legitimate targets for attacks for their oppressive policy against Muslims."

Members subscribed to the belief that democracy was contrary to Islam, that Islamic dominance must be established through "jihad" or holy war and that the United States was the enemy of Islam and the killing of Americans was a noble duty of all Muslims.

The Amir

The document named Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir ( left ), who is under arrest in Indonesia facing charges of treason, as the JI head or "Amir".

It said he is assisted by a "Mantiqi Ulla" or head of a territory. The first "Mantiqi Ulla" was Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin, known as Hambali, who is now Southeast Asia's most wanted man. His post was taken over in March 2001 by Ali Gufron, known as Muchlas, who is in detention in Indonesia in connection with the Bali bombing, the document said.

The conference at this eastern Malaysian resort is due to end Saturday.

Asean the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, groups Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ARF consists of the 10 Asean states along with Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, South Korea, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Russia and the United States. AFP