The Indonesian police confirmed Friday the plan to continue terror case against Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the alleged leader of regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

"Ba'asyir will be questioned at the police headquarters next week," detective chief Suyitno Landung said at police headquarters here.

He said that Ba'asyir was alleged of leading a "secret organization" which is blamed for a series of bomb attacks in the country.

"There are Bali bombing, Marriott Hotel bombing and others. The collected evidences clearly suggest that Ba'asyir leads the organization," Landung said without specifying further.

Separately, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the government fully understands the mounting interests of other countries in Ba'asyir's case and does its best to ensure international communities that Ba'asyir is undergoing transparent legal proceedings.

"We understand the interests from various parties in Ba'asyir's case, primarily from the United States. But we noticed that it is now going beyond the normal limit that can be interpreted as an attempt to intervene (in the case)," he said.

Ba'asyir, 64, has been serving a 1.5-year sentence for immigration offense by a Supreme Court verdict, which acquitted him of terror and treason charges and reduced his jail term from originally three years.

The US and Australian governments have publicly expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court verdict. The US government even has handed the transcript of testimonies from Hambali, an Indonesian-born militant now in US custody, to the Indonesian police in a hope for the resumption of the Ba'asyir terror case.

The elderly cleric was arrested only days after the Oct. 12, 2002 Bali bombing on suspicion of giving his blessing to the attack, but a Jakarta court failed to prove the terror charge.

Source: Xinhua