Indonesia arrests suspected leader of Jemaah Islamiyah

Indonesian police say they have arrested a man believed to be the leader of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network who has eluded capture since 2003.

National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said Monday that Para Wijayanto was arrested by counterterrorism 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.

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 counterterrorism agency, Sofyan Tsauri, said Wijayanto became leader of Jemaah Islamiyah in 2007.