FACTBOX: Five facts about Islamic militants Jemaah Islamiah

(Reuters) - Indonesia's most wanted Islamist militant, Noordin Mohammad Top, was killed in a police shoot-out in Central Java, police said on Thursday, lifting a major security threat ahead of a planned visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Malaysian-born Top, who set up a violent splinter group of regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah, was widely considered the mastermind of the bomb attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta in July, as well as other attacks in Bali and in Jakarta, which have killed scores of Westerners and Indonesians.

Here are five facts on Jemaah Islamiah.

* Founded around 1993, the goal of JI is the creation of an Islamic "super-state" spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, southern Thailand, Singapore and Brunei.

* Initially involved in violent communal conflicts within Indonesia, the network is said to have forged international links with militant groups such as al Qaeda, as well as Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the Philippines. * JI has been blamed for several deadly attacks on U.S. and Western targets in Indonesia, including the 2004 Australian embassy blast, a 2003 car bombing at the JW Marriot hotel in Jakarta, and the 2002 Bali bombing, which killed more than 200 people.

* JI's structure and membership remain murky, but it is said to be Southeast Asia's largest jihadist organization. Indonesian police have arrested more than 300 suspected JI militants, and neighbors Malaysia and Singapore have arrested another hundred. Its alleged one-time leader, bearded Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, was imprisoned for conspiracy but later cleared of wrongdoing and released in June 2006. He denied links to JI. * The group's ability to carry out attacks was believed to be waning after the recent capture and execution of several high-profile members. In November 2008 three JI-linked "Bali bombers' were executed by firing squad; in May 2009 Malaysia captured the alleged leader of Singapore's JI cell, Mas Selamat bin Kastari.

Analysts say while the mainstream JI had backed away in recent years from supporting violence, at least on Indonesian soil, Top had not.

Source: Reuters

(Compiled by Gillian Murdoch; Editing by Sugita Katyal)