AUTHORITIES are continuing to warn of the danger posed by extremists about to be freed from Indonesian jails, despite terror experts dismissing threats.
Clearly that (release of prisoners) represents a security challenge but I have been very pleased in my discussions with Indonesian officials and with the Indonesian national police that they are very apprised of that threat and we look forward to continuing to work with them to deal with what is a shared challenge.
Of the 62 terrorist prisoners released from Indonesian jails in the past 18 months only two have left to fight in the Syrian conflict.
One of them, Abdul Rauf, is believed to have been killed in June this year. He was released in 2011 after originally being sentenced to 16 years for leading a bank robbery to fund the 2002 bombings.
JI is the group behind the Bali bombings in a series of other bombings in Jakarta and Bali.
Indonesian Jihadi groups have in recent years become polarised and fractured as disagreements between key leaders emerge over the best cause of Jihad into the future.
In 2007 JI decided to move away from violence and bombings and towards religious outreach, believing that violence was counterproductive in Indonesia.
The Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict says that between January 2013 and May this year, a total of 62 terrorist prisoners have been freed from jails, after serving sentences for involvement in bombings, terror acts and training camps.
More will be released in the next year.
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