Mark Forbes, Jakarta – The Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir leads the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network and inspire its operatives, despite being cleared of terrorism charges and being released, says the Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer.

Mr Downer also told a ministerial counter-terrorism summit in Jakarta yesterday that the region had been more successful in fighting terrorism than any other area in the world.

But Jemaah Islamiah remained the biggest local threat, adopting increasingly sophisticated tactics aimed to "plunge nations into antiquity" by establishing Islamic law across the region, he said.

Mr Downer refused to criticise Indonesia for allowing Mr Bashir to promote extremism and failing to ban JI. The cleric was released last year by the courts, not the Government, he said.

Mr Bashir was the leader of "the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist group", Mr Downer told the summit, co-hosted by Australia and Indonesia. "I do think they pay attention to him. He's certainly been the spiritual leader of JI over a long period. I think inspiration is still drawn from him. I don't think he is sitting around and plotting the blowing up of buildings ... he's the leading propagator of a particular ideology."

Indonesia had done "an extraordinary job in countering terrorism" and combating the extremist views advanced by Mr Bashir, Mr Downer said.

Regional co-operation against terrorism, prompted by the 2002 Bali bombing, had made significant progress. "Our region has had more success than any other in fighting terrorists," he said.

Mr Bashir wanted to impose a Taliban-style regime, Mr Downer said. It would ban football, mobile phones, television and blow up Buddhist temples.

Mr Downer praised the focus on education in combating terrorism. Nations should work together to reject extremist ideology and undermine terrorist propaganda. Jakarta was the best example of combating the terrorist threat.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, said he did not know if Mr Bashir's speeches were inciting violence, but that his radicalism was best countered with dialogue. It was difficult to ban JI because it was not a formal organisation, he said.