The Indonesian authorities have released radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir from prison on Wednesday more than two years after he was imprisoned for conspiracy in the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali.

The move to set free the 68-year-old co-founder of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group has drawn condemnation from countries such as Australia -- 88 of whose citizens were among the 202 people killed in the Bali attack and the US, which has pressed Jakarta for a harder line on terrorism.

"The possibility that a person responsible for such a terrible crime could go free after serving a light sentence...is cause for concern," said a spokesman for the US embassy in Jakarta.

Terrorism experts and Indonesian security officials warn against overstating his importance. While he may once have been the active leader of JI, there have been signs in recent years, they say, that hardliners within the organization no longer either trust or revere him.

Indonesian officials also say further western pressure could hurt rather than help the fight against terrorism, especially as the war in Iraq plods on. The "exaggerated attention" given to Bashir internationally only elevated his status with the Indonesian public, said one senior security official Tuesday.

Bashir has never been accused of planning or executing terrorist attacks in Indonesia. But he has in recent years been a high-profile weather vane for the direction of the fight against terrorism in the world's largest Islamic nation.

Before the 2002 Bali attack -- at a time when the US and others accused Jakarta of ignoring the JI threat -- Bashir was feted by prominent Indonesian political leaders.

Bashir was arrested just weeks after the bombings, amid an escalating crackdown on JI.

During Bashir's time in prison JI members have staged three other high-profile attacks -- on Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel in 2003, on the Australian embassy in 2004 and on restaurants in Bali last October. Indonesia has established a strong record for arresting and prosecuting terrorists, with more than 100 JI members now behind bars.

(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2006)