Indonesia to set up new anti-terror team

Speaking just days after a bomb attack on Australia's Jakarta embassy blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah-linked extremists, acting Security Minister Hari Sabarno said intelligence officials had floated the idea during recent discussions.

If formed, the taskforce would consist of members of anti-terror troops from the air force, navy, army and police, and would take a preventative role -- either covert or open -- in tackling extremists, Sabarno told reporters.

Indonesia in July opened its first anti-terror centre on the central island of Java with the aid of Australian funding.

Following the Bali attacks and a strike on the Marriott hotel in Jakarta last year, intelligence operations have been mainly carried out by Indonesian police, assisted by the state spy agency and military intelligence agencies.