JAKARTA - Indonesian police today were questioning a suspected senior member of the Jemaah Islamiah regional extremist network deported earlier by Malaysia, a senior officer said.

Mohamad Iqbal Abdul Rahman, also known as Abu Jibril or Fihirudin, was in Jakarta and was "still being questioned" by Indonesian detectives, Brigadier General Pranowo, director of the police anti-terrorism branch, told AFP .

He did not elaborate but said Abu Jibril's questioning "has nothing to do with JI."

Indonesia's chief of detectives, Commissioner General Suyitno Landung, separately told reporters that Jibril is being questioned over the alleged falsification of his identity.

Asked whether Jibril is linked to any bombings, Landung replied: "So far there isn't a connection."

Inspector General Paiman, the national police spokesman, said Jibril is being questioned in connection with the alleged falsification of documents and giving false testimony.

"He's being questioned now in connection with false evidence in the case of his passport," Paiman said.

Indonesia's chief of detectives, Commissioner General Suyitno Landung, separately told reporters "so far there isn't a connection" between Jibril and bombing cases.

Deported before court hearing

Malaysia deported Jibril earlier today just hours before the High Court was due to hear an application for his release, a Malaysian government lawyer said.

The Indonesian preacher was sent back by the immigration department which had been holding him since he was freed from a detention camp last August, deputy public prosecutor Fadzilah Begum told the court.

Malaysian judges had last week ordered that Jibril be produced before them this afternoon after his lawyers sought a habeas corpus ruling pressing for his release.

Jibril, 46, who has a Malaysian wife, was arrested in June 2001 for alleged militant links. He was held under the Internal Security Act which allows indefinite detention without trial.

He was suspected of being a senior member of the al-Qaeda-linked JI network, which has staged a series of attacks in the region including the Bali bombing in October 2002 which killed 202 people. - AFP

Jibril was released last August but immigration officers revoked his permanent resident status and immediately arrested him pending deportation to Indonesia, declaring him to be an undesirable person and prohibited immigrant.