Indonesia passes anti-terrorism funding bill

Indonesia's parliament passed an anti-terrorism bill on Tuesday that allows authorities to freeze bank accounts and confiscate assets with suspected links to militant activity.

"This is an important key piece of legislation in (Indonesia's) efforts to combat terrorism," deputy speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said in a plenary session of the 550-seat house.

The new law will also allow the government to request foreign nations to freeze accounts showing suspicious transactions that could be linked to terrorism.

The bill will take effect after being signed by the president.

Indonesia was rocked by a series of deadly terror attacks targeted at Westerners during the last decade.

Most -- including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people -- were blamed on the Al-Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

A crackdown on terrorism has weakened JI and key militant groups, and only low-impact attacks have been carried out in recent years by networks targeting law enforcement officers.