Indonesia arrests cleric as he prays for Osama's safety

Indonesian police finally moved yesterday against a militant Muslim cleric linked with al-Qa'ida, arresting Abu Bakar Bashir as he lay in a hospital bed in central Java.

Mr Bashir, accused of being the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a radical Islamic group – which he denies even exists – was under armed guard as police waited to question him about a spate of church bombings in December 2000. He runs a religious boarding school near the Javanese city of Solo, and collapsed on Friday after delivering a fiery sermon in which he prayed for the safety of Osama bin Laden.

While there is no evidence to connect him with the bomb that killed more than 180 people in Bali last weekend, the US and Australia regard Jemaah Islamiyah as the most likely culprit. The groupis suspected of planning attacks throughout south-east Asia. Indonesia had long resisted international pressure to arrest Mr Bashir, fearing a backlash from extremists.

In the Philippines, police said they had captured a leader of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, who was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of Western tourists two years ago. Mark Bolkerin Gumbahale was arrested while playing video games in an internet cafe in Manila. Abu Sayyaf is accused of involvement in bomb attacks in the Philippines last week which left nine people dead.