Jakarta, Oct 19: Indonesian police has arrested terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir, a senior officer said.

Bashir was formally arrested while in hospital in the city of Solo yesterday, director of criminal investigations Brigadier General Aryanto Sutadi told a news agency by phone. "As of now he is formally arrested but he will remain in hospital until he is healthy enough," Sutadi said from the Central Java city.

"After that we will detain him. He is now under police control."

Bashir, a radical Indonesian Muslim cleric, failed to answer a summons to national police headquarters in Jakarta yesterday. Aides to the 64-year-old Bashir say he collapsed on Friday and was taken to hospital, one day before he was ordered to answer the summons for questioning as a suspect in bombings and in a treason case.

Singapore and Malaysia both accuse Bashir of terror links. Singapore says he is the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian group suspected to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Sutadi said Bashir was being guarded by police in hospital. "At the moment we are still unable to question because he is too weak so I don't want to push him to answer questions," he said.

Bashir's failure to attend was the first test of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's resolve in cracking down on terror suspects after the October 12 Bali bombing.

Bureau Report