Indonesia questions Hambali

Hambali was arrested in August

Indonesia has been given its first indirect access to Hambali, a militant Islamic leader being held by the US.

Indonesia's intelligence chief said Hambali had given written answers to questions about the Jemaah Islamiah network he is believed to have run.

Hambali, an Indonesian national, was detained by the US last year and is being held in a secret location.

The US' reluctance to give access to him had angered Indonesian authorities, who said it was slowing investigations.

The chief of Indonesian intelligence, A.M. Hendropriyono, said that despite the lack of physical access, answers to the questions had provided important information.

"From those we have a picture of the size of the network and the targets for their plans," he said.

Indonesian officials have said they still want direct access to Hambali because they believe that questioning him would help clear up many investigations in Indonesia.

The US has indicated it was working towards giving access but has set no date.

Hambali is the alleged operations chief of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the south east Asian network which has been linked to al-Qaeda and blamed for the Bali bombings of 2002 which killed 202 people.

Bali is one of a series of incidents about which the Indonesian authorities want to question Hambali.

They also include the bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta last August in which 12 people died.

He was captured in Thailand last August and was detained by the Americans in connection with the 11 September attacks on New York and Washington.