The police say they have agreed with Indonesia to form a special force to track down members of the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror network blamed for the Bali bomb attack.

Police chief Norian Mai said the agreement came at a meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) police chiefs in Indonesia this week.

"The anti-terrorist meeting held in Jakarta yesterday had decided to forge greater cooperation in sharing information and form a special force in tracking down terrorists, particularly JI members who are still at large," he said today.

The special force would comprise Malaysian and Indonesian police personnel who would focus primarily o­n hunting down JI members involved in the Bali bombing, he said.

Malaysians among suspects

Indonesian police have arrested 30 people over the bombing, which killed nearly 200 people, most of them western tourists, last October.

They are still searching for 10 suspects, including three Malaysians.

Norian said the detention of some 80 suspected Islamic militants belonging to JI and its local affiliate the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia (KMM) over the past 18 months had contained the threat of terrorism in Malaysia.

Police had a list of those involved in KMM and with the help of neighbouring countries, could eliminate their presence in Malaysia, he said.

Police were also focusing o­n capturing JI members trying to escape from Malaysian and other security forces in the region.

"I am confident continued action in tracking down members of the JI group can reduce the threat not o­nly from this militant group but other international militant groups too," Norian said.

JI aims to create a pan-Islamic state encompassing Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and southern Philippines. - AFP