Indonesian police say they have arrested a man believed to be the leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network who has eluded capture since 2003.
National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said on Monday that Para Wijayanto was arrested by counter-terrorism police with his wife at a hotel in the Jakarta satellite city Bekasi on Saturday.
Prasetyo said Wijayanto is suspected of being involved in making bombs used in a series of attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings and a 2004 attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.
A file photo of the Bali bombing. Source: AAP
He said Wijayanto was also involved in sectarian conflict in Poso, known as a hotbed of Islamic militancy on Indonesia's Sulawesi island.
A convicted militant who now collaborates with Indonesia's counter-terrorism agency, Sofyan Tsauri, said Wijayanto became leader of Jemaah Islamiyah in 2007.
