Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's most violent Muslim extremist group, Laskar Jihad, has been disbanded. The move comes in the face of the deadly blasts in Kuta which have clearly shifted public opinion against such terrorist groups and the ideologies they preach.

There are also plans by the Indonesian government to issue sweeping powers to the authorities, including the ability to order arrests without warrants and extended-detention periods without the need for trials, in order to check the nation's terrorist problem.

The Laskar Jihad, which is blamed for the killing of thousands of Christians in a sectarian conflict in the Maluku islands, is not believed to be linked to Saturday's car-bomb attack on the Sari Club in Bali.

But the change in attitude of the government and the public has prompted Ja'afar Umar Thalib, the group's supreme commander, to call for the group's disbanding on Monday night.

Local media reported that about 700 members of the rebel group held a last parade in Ambon, Maluku province, before boarding ships bound for Java shortly after the announcement of the break-up.

A man known only as Jamal, who heads Laskar Jihad's operations in South Sulawesi province, confirmed the group was no more. He said: "Our supreme commander has ordered us to disband. We are no longer Laskar Jihad. If you want to know why, ask him."

Further confirmation was published on Laskar Jihad's website which said the organisation had closed down on Saturday and its headquarters in Yogyakarta in Central Java had been abandoned and locked. Supreme commander Ja'afar faces trial after being detained last May allegedly for making a provocative speech in April, just days before Muslim militants killed 13 Christians.

This was not the only sign that moderate Muslims in Indonesia were getting increasingly impatient with radicals.

Of late, The Defenders of Islam (FPI), another extremist group that specialises in terrorising bars, clubs and other nightspots throughout Jakarta and other urban centres, has been coming under public attack.

In Jakarta on Monday, thousands of entertainment-sector workers demonstrated against FPI and asked for protection from the police, whose officers often stand idly by while radicals smash up their workplaces. Police were interviewing FPI leader Habib Rizieq Shihab yesterday in connection with attacks against private businesses.

Moderate Muslim leaders, including Mr Hasyim Muzadi who chairs the country's largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama, have also called for the FPI's dissolution, saying that its actions harm the image of Islam as a peaceful religion.

The Bali tragedy and the anti-FPI protests are indications of a shift among Indonesia's moderate Muslim population to reflect less tolerance towards radical Islam, according to experts.

"The perception that Islamic militants could be behind the blasts in Manado and Bali is taking hold," said political analyst Kusnanto Anggoro. "The image is that radical Islam is a dangerous force that could hurt Indonesia's own interests. After the terror blasts, radical Islam could be cornered. Now they see that their support base is no longer as strong, and some might consider disbanding to avoid prosecution."