Matthew More, Jakarta – The head of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation has questioned the existence of Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia.

This comes as prosecutors filed an appeal against the acquittal last week of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir on a charge of being JI's spiritual leader in Indonesia.

In remarks that further cloud Indonesia's campaign against terrorism, the chairman of the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama organisation, Hasyim Muzadi, said if the governments of Indonesia and the US want people to believe in JI's existence they should formally announce the names of the office bearers.

"As the head of NU [which claims 40 million members] I meet with Islamic mass organisations every day from all over Indonesia but I've never heard of JI and the people I meet have never heard of JI either," he said. "They must prove it. The Government has to announce who is the head, who is the secretary and what is the structure. JI is a strange name to us; the Government has never informed us officially about whether JI exists."

His remarks are the latest from several Indonesian leaders who have criticised aspects of the US campaign against terrorism in the wake of Bashir's acquittal last week on a charge that he was JI's spiritual leader.

The prosecutor of Bashir, Firdaus Dewilmar, said he filed appeals in two courts yesterday including one that argues that Bashir is the emir, or spiritual leader, of JI and that he was the leader of a campaign of treason designed to bring down Indonesia's Government. Bashir was last week acquitted of these charges although he was convicted of a less serious treason charge together with immigration offences.

Mr Firdaus said the more serious charges were the subject of an appeal in the Jakarta Higher Court. A separate appeal in the Supreme Court would seek to prove Bashir is a foreigner and no longer an Indonesian citizen after spending 14 years in Malaysia. Lawyers for Bashir last week filed an appeal against his convictions and the four-year jail sentence.

Mr Hasyim's remarks yesterday had some of the flavour of an attack last week by Indonesian Vice-President Hamzah Haz. He called the US the "king of terrorists" for invading Iraq in what appeared an early sign the terrorist issue would be caught up in the intense election campaign in the lead-up to next year's poll.

While Mr Hasyim said such language was "too much", he too criticised the US. "It is just possible the US commits terrorism, but not the whole country," he said.

With more than 30 Indonesians on trial for terrorism in Bali, Mr Hasyim agreed there was a terrorism problem in his country. "Terrorism exists in Indonesia but the influence is coming from the Middle East. It's brought to Indonesia by Indonesians but it's not the character of Indonesians. The mainstream of Indonesian religion is moderate," he said.

He also criticised a decision last week by the US Government to freeze the assets of 19 JI members which he said should not proceed until there was proof of JI's existence. "It's the job of the intelligence agencies and police ... and the US to prove it."