BANGKOK, August 15 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Thai government announced Friday, August 15, that Asia's most-wanted man Hambali has been captured and handed over to Indonesia, while Jakarta maintained he was not in Indonesia.

Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, is the alleged mastermind of the Bali bombings and a top ally of Osama bin Laden.

Thailand's Defense Minister Thamarak Issarangkun Na Ayutthaya said Hambali and his wife were arrested on Monday, August 11, and extradited to Indonesia on Wednesday, August 13, in an operation conducted "with the cooperation of many countries".

He told reporters they were sent to Indonesia instead of being transported to a U.S. territory "because he is an Indonesian citizen and he is alleged to have committed a lot of crimes there."

The minister said Thailand would claim a 4.0 million dollar bounty offered by the U.S. for his capture, and brushed aside fears of terrorist reprisals provoked by the arrest, saying "we have no fear".

A senior immigration police official said Hambali was put in the custody of U.S. officials after crossing into Thailand from Laos over the weekend, traveling on a fake Spanish passport and disguised by shaving his heavy beard, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"He was handed over to U.S. authorities and taken on a special U.S. flight," he told AFP.

A source at the military's Supreme Command security operations center said Hambali was arrested in the central city of Ayuthaya "without any resistance" and with the knowledge of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The Nation newspaper alleged he was arrested with explosives and weapons to be used in a terror attack during October's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit which will bring 21 leaders including Bush to Bangkok.

A top national security official said in July that Hambali was believed to be hiding in Bangkok where he had allegedly planned the Bali blasts at a February 2002 meeting.

Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the details of Hambali's capture would be disclosed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on his return from a visit to Colombo late Friday.

Commenting on the hand-over argument, Indonesian Police chief General Dai Bachtiar said Hambali is still "in another country."

Asked by reporters if Hambali will be brought to Indonesia, Bachtiar replied: "Not yet. Not yet."

He added: "We are thankful that the person we have been looking for has apparently been found, although he is still in another country.

"We hope to be given an opportunity to extract or obtain information from the person involved. It's just a matter of when. But some information from America has already been given to us for us to develop later," Bachtiar elaborated.

Top Indonesian officials made it clear the suspected senior al Qaeda official is in U.S. custody but said they want him to stand trial in Indonesia eventually.

Hambali, said Bachtiar, is an Indonesian citizen "so we will have him accountable before this country's laws."

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, asked whether Hambali is in Indonesia, said: "It's just a rumor.

"We understand that Hambali is under the custody of U.S. authorities. We have an interest in obtaining information from the result of his interrogation," he added.

Wirayuda said he expects Hambali to be handed over to Jakarta in due course to face justice.

"We welcome the arrest of Hambali as one of the international terrorist leaders," he said.

"At the point America doesn't need Hambali any more, he will then be handed over to us because we have a need in the context of terrorist acts in various places in Indonesia, so we can investigate and bring him to justice in Indonesia."

The foreign minister noted there was no extradition agreement with the U.S. "but legal cooperation makes it possible (to work together)."

Asked about Hambali's possible transfer to Indonesia, top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said: "That can wait."

Security appeared normal at Bali police headquarters, where the bomb suspects are detained.

"He (Hambali) is definitely not in Bali," said provincial police spokeswoman Pangasihan Gaut.

The policeman who led the investigation which netted more than 30 Bali bombing suspects, I Made Mangku Pastika, said he hoped Hambali would be returned to Indonesia.

"Right now Hambali is an American prisoner," El Shinta radio quoted him as saying.

One of the few people who might know Hambali's location was not saying.

Asked if he is in Indonesia, ambassador Ralph Boyce told reporters: "I have not seen any such reports so I wouldn't want to comment on that nor do I think it important to focus on his immediate whereabouts.

"This is a major victory in the war on terror," Boyce argued.

The diplomat said the focus should be "on how this arrest can help us work together to prevent further attacks that may have been planned, that might have taken innocent lives of Indonesians among others."

"He is a known killer," U.S. President George W. Bush said after officials announced Hambali was in U.S. custody.

"He is a close associate of September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He is one of the world's most lethal terrorists."

Australia hailed the capture of Hambali which it called "the Osama bin laden of the East" and held him responsible for the October 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people including 88 Australians.

"There should be universal relief and pleasure that a man as evil as Hambali has been caught," said Prime Minister John Howard.

Hambali, a top leader of the regional alleged terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), is wanted in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in connection with a series of bomb attacks.

Philippines authorities, who have also indicted Hambali for a series of bombings in Manila that claimed 22 lives in December 2000, welcomed his capture but warned of retaliatory action.

"The capture of Hambali is a big blow to Jemaah Islamiyah and the world terrorist network. He is considered one of the region's deadliest terrorists," President Gloria Arroyo's National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said.

A U.S. official in Washington argued Hambali helped to arrange a meeting in Malaysia in January 2000 that included two men who allegedly went on to become hijackers in the strikes on New York and Washington in September 11, 2001.

Hambali earlier this year received a "large sum of money for a major attack," claimed the American official, adding the money was handed over by an al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan.