Indonesia on alert for fresh attacks by Jemaah Islamiah

Chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said one reason to be on guard was the escape from the Philippines of alleged Jemaah Islamiah bombmaker Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, an Indonesian who broke out of a Manila prison on Monday.

Jemaah Islamiah, a regional group linked to al Qaeda, has been blamed for last year's Bali bombings which killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. It wants an Islamic state in parts of Southeast Asia.

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"It's very possible that Jemaah Islamiah, whose elements are spread throughout Southeast Asia, will carry out fresh criminal actions," Yudhoyono told a news conference.

"We cannot say terrorism in Indonesia and Southeast Asia has reduced. Moreover, from what we've found there are indications terrorist movements in Southeast Asia will tend to carry out more of the actions they have planned and prepared for."

Yudhoyono said he had ordered security tightened at key facilities across the world's most populous Muslim nation, partly in response to Monday's bombing at parliament, which hurt no one.

Police also arrested nine suspected Jemaah members in Indonesia last week and said they had foiled plots to attack churches and shops in Jakarta, a sprawling city of 10 million people.

Police seized a huge cache of explosives during the raids.

They said they were hunting several more Jemaah militants.

The suspected militants had targeted eight strategic locations in Jakarta as part of their operations, police have said, without explaining what they intended to do.

The blast at parliament sprayed nails over a wide area, but wounded no one as the assembly was in recess and lightly staffed. Indonesia has not linked Jemaah to the blast.

Yudhoyono referred to trials of Jemaah leaders in Indonesia, including its alleged chief Abu Bakar Bashir, but did not say if he thought their verdicts could be a flashpoint. Bashir is on trial for treason but has not been charged over Bali.