A former leader of the terrorist group responsible for the Bali bombing said today that he is now prepared to help crush the organisation but refused to offer an apology to families of the victims.

Malaysian Wan Min Wan Mat, 45, who spoke to AFP in an interview, was released Monday after being held in detention since September 2002, shortly before the Oct 12 attack on Bali nightspots which killed 202 people, mostly western tourists.

Named by Indonesian police as a mastermind of the bombing, he testified in a written statement read out by prosecutors at the trial of one of the bombing suspects in 2003 that he had sent cash to the group accused of the blast.

Wan Min said in his statement that he had sent US$30,500 in three instalments to a senior member of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) extremist group to finance "operations in Indonesia as previously planned".

Asked at his home in a village near Kota Bharu in Kelantan whether he knew the money he sent would be used for the Bali bombing or any other attack, he replied: "No, I didn't know."

Asked whether he had a message for the families of the victims, who included 88 Australians, he replied: "I'm sorry I can't answer that question."

A useless struggle

Appearing calm and laughing throughout the interview, the bespectacled former university lecturer admitted having been a JI leader and said he now feared for his life as he was seen as a turncoat.

"I know one thing, we were mesmerised by the JI leadership and its struggle. When you come into a group, you cannot think rationally. We were confident our struggle was correct. But that is in the past and I want to forget about it."

Terrorism experts say JI is the Southeast Asian wing of Osama Bin Laden's al Qaeda group. Apart from the Bali attack it has been blamed for a series of bombings in pursuit of its aim of establishing an Islamic state in the region.

"I was the JI leader in Johor (a southern Malaysian state) in 2001," Wan Min said, adding that he was now prepared to cooperate with the authorities to help end JI operations as he had seen the error of his ways while in detention.

Asked whether Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is spiritual leader of JI, as alleged by the United States and Australia, he laughed and said: "Please. If I say yes, there will be a lot of questions. If I say no, there will be a lot of questions. It is better for me to keep quiet."

Bashir is serving a 30-month sentence for involvement in an alleged conspiracy that led to the Bali attack.

Wan Min had a message for two other Malaysians, Noordin Mohammad Top and Azahari Husin, who are accused of leading roles in the Bali bombings and other attacks in Indonesia.

"Stop the attacks. It is a useless struggle. This has nothing to do with religion. It is not a religious struggle."

But, he added, "if you ask them to renounce (violence), they will not because they are willing to die."

Like Wan Min, Azahari is a former lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia , while Noordin is an ex-student from the same university.

Feeling guilty

Wan Min said he hoped to return to his teaching job, "but i feel ashamed to go back to UTM, I feel very guilty."

Wan Min, who was held under the Internal Security Act which allows for indefinite detention without trial, will be restricted to the Kota Baru area until October 2006, he said.

There has been no official explanation of why he was released. A government source told AFP : "There is evidence that he is no longer a threat to national security but police are monitoring his movements."

Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna of Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies told AFP , however, that Wan Min was "well established as an important member and a leader of JI and it's very important that he be prosecuted for his activities".

At his typical Malay wood and concrete house, surrounded by coconut trees in the village of Salor near Kota Baru, Wan Min says he has been welcomed home by his wife and six children between the ages of six and 17.

"I am changed, I renounce violence, I want to make a new life," he said.