JAKARTA, Aug 25: Indonesian militant Abu Bakar Bashir, accused of leading the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah group, is likely to face formal charges after police handed him over to prosecutors on Wednesday.

The charges would be a major step forward in Indonesia's efforts to bring to trial the man authorities believe inspired militants who bombed nightclubs on the tourist island of Bali in 2002 and Jakarta's J.W. Marriott Hotel last year.

The handover became possible after prosecutors approved a police dossier setting out the case against the preacher. The contents of the dossier have not been made public, but police have said it refers to the Marriott bombing and the 66-year old Bashir's leadership of Jemaah Islamiah.

A suicide bomber blew up a van packed with explosives outside the Marriott a year ago, killing 12 people. However, the dossier did not incriminate him in the October 2002 Bali attacks, although a prosecutor said there was a link to that case.

But a defiant Bashir denied even knowing of the existence of the Marriott Hotel and said he was being prosecuted at the behest of the United States. "Since I was born, I never knew there was a Marriott Hotel but still I am being accused of involvement," Abu Bakar Bashir told reporters shortly after he was transferred to a jail in the east of the capital, Jakarta.

In an impromptu news conference in the warden's office, flanked by smiling policemen and prison guards, Bashir repeated his frequent criticism of the United States. -Reuters