BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhuanet) -- For the first time, Indonesian prosecutors demanded on Wednesday a local court outlaw the Jemaah Islamiah Islamic militant group, blamed for a string of deadly bombings in recent years.

    Police in several countries have linked JI to al Qaeda but Indonesian authorities have argued they cannot ban the group since it is not an established, structured organization.

    The demand to outlaw JI, which is listed by the United Nations as a terrorist group, was made during the trial of one of its suspected leaders, Abu Dujana, who was arrested in June last year.

    "We demand the panel of judges...declare Jemaah Islamiah an illegal organization," chief prosecutor Payaman told the hearing at the South Jakarta district court.

    A recent jailbreak by a JI member in Singapore has revived fears the Islamic militant group could plot attacks against Western interests in the region again. Prosecutors asked the South Jakarta district court to sentence Dujana to life, saying he was guilty of involvement in a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorism.

    The prosecution accused Dujana of authorizing the shipping of firearms and explosives to the Poso region on Sulawesi island where a conflict between Christians and Muslims killed about 2,000 people at the start of the decade.

    The charge sheet also alleged that Dujana, who has confessed to leading JI's military wing in the past, harbored other fugitive militants and provided financial support for "terrorism."

    Dujana has said that charges against him are false and that he is a victim of injustice.

    (Agencies)