Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was handed over to prosecutors in Indonesia on Friday to face trial for treason, police said.

Bashir has been described by several Southeast Asian nations as the spiritual leader of the radical Jemaah Islamiah network that officials blame for the Bali bomb blasts. Bashir denies any link and has not been charged in relation to that attack.

"We gave Bashir away to Jakarta's district attorney early this morning," police spokesman Edward Aritonang told Reuters. "The files have been completed and he is ready to be put on trial." Prosecutors accept custody of prisoners only when they consider there is a case strong enough to go to court. While no trial date has been set, the hearing could open within weeks.

Aritonang said the charges against Bashir covered "treason against the state, immigration violation, and documents falsifications, and others".

But Bashir and his lawyers said the case was no longer connected to suspected involvement in the bombings of churches on Christmas 2000 and of plotting to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the crimes orginally cited by the police when they arrested the preacher last year.

"There have been shifts over the accusations imposed on me. It's no longer about the Christmas bomb or a plot killing Megawati. This is bizarre. All the accusations have been bizarre. There must be something behind all of this," Bashir told reporters during the handover.

Police and prosecutors gave conflicting comments when asked about the issue and failed to elaborate on precisely what evidence or events led to the treason accusations against Bashir.

But they did say the treason charge was one defined as seeking to overthrow the government, which would carry a maximum penalty of 15 years, not treason defined as plotting to kill a president, which could bring a death sentence, as could a charge of involvement in fatal bombings.

National police chief General Da'i Bachtiar said the case as presented was the best they could do rather than having one "supported by weak evidence and testimonies". He did not elaborate.

Several officials also have linked Bashir to the deadly October 12 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.

But police have not named Bashir as a suspect over the attack and the cleric has denied any tie to Jemaah Islamiah, the Bali bombings or any other wrongdoing. Shortly after the Bali blasts, Bashir called them a "brutal act" and said he believed the United States was behind them.

Aritonang said earlier this week police were still probing Bashir's possible role in the Bali attack. The frail cleric, who is in his mid-60s and has had a number of physical ailments in recent months, spent years in Malaysia.

Officials there and in neighbouring Singapore say Jemaah Islamiah was responsible for planning a number of violent acts against Western interests and other targets throughout Southeast Asia in its effort to achieve a pan-Islamic state in the region.

Intelligence sources have also tied Jemaah Islamiah to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda. Bashir, usually clad in white robes and a skull cap, has expressed admiration of the Saudi-born bin Laden but denied he was part of al Qaeda.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country but the majority of its believers are considered to be moderates.

[Additional reporting by Achmad Sukarsono.]