Jakarta – Indonesia is angry at Washington's refusal to give it access to a suspected al-Qaeda member and Indonesian citizen held in Guantanamo Bay.

The Indonesian Vice-President, Yusuf Kalla, who is visiting the US, said he could not understand the reluctance to allow officials to interview Hambali, who is thought to be a leading figure in the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist group.

"I don't understand why the US is being difficult in granting us access to Hambali," Mr Kalla, who met his US counterpart, Dick Cheney, and the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, during his visit, was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

The US President, George Bush, revealed that Hambali had been shifted to Guantanamo Bay earlier this month, prompting Jakarta to say it would again seek consular access to him.

Indonesia has repeatedly sought to question the militant, accused of being al-Qaeda's main Asian representative, since he was handed to US authorities after his capture in Thailand in 2003.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Jakarta said the request was being dealt with like any other from a foreign government.

Mr Bush revealed earlier this month that 14 senior al-Qaeda members captured after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US had been sent to Guantanamo after being subjected to special interrogations at secret CIA prisons.