Indonesia's Vice-President Hamzah Haz has made a surprise visit to Muslim cleric who has been linked by Singapore and Malaysia to a regional terror network.

Mr Haz met Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, who has denied all links with terrorism, at his Muslim boarding school in the Central Java town of Solo.

It was just a get together to strengthen the ties of brotherhood

School official

The vice-president, who leads Indonesia's largest Muslim party, sparked criticism earlier this month for visiting another controversial figure - a detained militia leader accused of inciting religious violence.

Analysts say Mr Haz is trying to boost his support among the mainly Muslim Indonesian public ahead of 2004 presidential elections in which he might run.

An official at the Al Mukmin boarding school said Mr Haz and Mr Ba'asyir met on Wednesday at an open air meeting attended by hundreds of students.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim nation

"It was a meeting initiated by both parties. It was just a get together to strengthen the ties of brotherhood," the official, Fauzan Al-Anshari, told Reuters news agency.

Singapore and Malaysia have named Mr Ba'asyir as the possible leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah group which is accused of plotting to attack US targets in Singapore.

They have linked him with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network which the US blames for the 11 September attacks in New York and Washington.

Mr Ba'asyir strongly denied the allegations during questioning by the Indonesian authorities earlier this year.

He has praised Bin Laden as a "true Islamic warrior" but denied having any connection with him.

Jail visit

Earlier this month Mr Haz visited a jailed Muslim militia commander who is accused of inciting a massacre of Christian villagers in Indonesia's eastern Moluccas islands.

Jafar Umar Thalib, the head of the Laskar Jihad militia group, allegedly made a speech in April in the islands' provincial capital Ambon in which he called on his followers to "prepare our bombs and ready our guns" against a mainly Christian separatist group.

Two days later a Muslim mob attacked a Christian village on the outskirts of the city killing at least 12 people, including women and a young baby.

Several leading politicians and Muslim moderates criticised the vice-president's meeting with Mr Jafar, but Mr Haz said the visit was a personal matter.