JAKARTA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - The trial of an alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiah regional militant group will go ahead, an Indonesian court ruled on Thursday, dismissing an attempt by the defence to dismiss the case on a technicality.

Abu Dujana, who has confessed to leading Jemaah Islamiah's military wing, has been charged with keeping explosives and sheltering fugitives wanted for a series of deadly attacks in the country in recent years. He faces the death penalty if found guilty under Indonesia's anti-terrorism laws.

Dujana's lawyers have argued that the South Jakarta court had no jurisdiction because it was not the scene of the crimes Dujana is alleged to have committed.

But chief judge Wahjono said the Jakarta court had been sanctioned by the Supreme Court to try the case and the trial should continue.

The indictment alleged Dujana had harboured and assisted Noordin Top and Azahari Husin, two Malaysians wanted for several deadly attacks in Indonesia including the 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people were killed.

Dujana, who has not been charged with any specific attack, has said that charges against him are false and that he is a victim of injustice.

Police arrested Dujana, 38, in a town in Central Java in June and at the time described him as their most wanted man.

Jemaah Islamiah is believed to aspire to create an Islamic state linking Muslim communities in Southeast Asia. It was blamed for a string of attacks that killed hundreds of civilians, including the bombings of the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and the Marriott Hotel in the capital in 2003.

Indonesia is the world's fourth-most populous country. While the vast majority of Muslims are moderate, the country has seen the emergence of an increasingly vocal militant minority. (Writing by Ahmad Pathoni; Editing by Sara Webb and Alex Richardson)

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