Indonesian shaykh "cleric" Abu Bakar Bashir has walked out of a Jakarta jail after serving time for links to the 2002 Bali bombings.

He planned to return immediately to an Islamic school in central Java.

Wearing his trademark white skullcap and shawl, Bashir on Wednesday was surrounded by supporters shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is the Greatest) and by media before getting into a car and being driven away.

Seen by the West as the spiritual head of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) regional militant network, Bashir was convicted of being part of a conspiracy behind the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.

Southeast Asian and Western authorities blame JI for the Indonesian resort island attack and other strikes in the region.

Light sentence

Hundreds of Bashir supporters were outside the jail waiting to welcome him. Scores of police were also on hand and security was tight.

Bashir's son, Rohim, told reporters: "I'm very happy right now. All things have been resolved, and he is free now."

Asked about possible police surveillance of his father, he said: "I don't care about it. If they want to watch, go ahead."

Australian and US officials have in the past criticized Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, for giving him a relatively light sentence and for subsequently reducing the term.

Analysts say militants could use Bashir's release to revive Jemaah Islamiah, which police say has become decentralized, with factions splitting off and operating independently.

"The perception among security forces is that the release may help consolidation moves as they (JI) have been torn after the death of their leader," said Andi Widjajanto, a security analyst at the University of Indonesia.

He was referring to the alleged terrorism mastermind, Azahari bin Husin, who was killed in a police raid late last year.