Firebrand Bashir accused of terrorist involvement

JAKARTA - Indonesian firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir should learn his fate next week after prosecutors today completed their case against him, saying there was no doubt he was a terror chief who knew of militant attacks being planned in Indonesia.

Chief prosecutor Salman Maryadi told a specially-convened Jakarta court while Bashir, 66, may not have been directly involved in a string of terrorist bombings since 2000, as the "emir" or head of Jemaah Islamiah, he "must" have known they were being planned.

"Even though the defendant didn't join in the execution of the bombings, he knew of military training in (the southern Philippines) and that there were bomb-making lessons for members of Jemaah Islamiah in order to form forces and prepare for war," Maryadi said.

"So the defendant, as emir of Jemaah Islamiah, must have been aware of the possibilities and effects of that training."

Prosecutors have sought an eight-year jail term for Bashir for his alleged link to a series of deadly bombings blamed on Jemaah Islamiah, including the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks in which 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed.

They abandoned plans to seek the death penalty after a succession of witnesses either withdrew their testimonies or refused to give evidence against the cleric.

Reading out his defence last week, Bashir said the United States had pressured Indonesian authorities to put him in jail or hand him over to Washington.

He blamed President George W Bush for the allegations against him and said he was being victimised because he campaigned for strict Islamic sharia law in Indonesia.

"My sermons have made America under George W Bush and his acolytes afraid and feel uneasy," he said.

Bashir denied he was present at a JI passing-out parade for militants held in a jungle training camp in the Philippines in 2000, or that he had relayed orders from al Qaeda terror mastermind Osama bin Laden to fight the US.

Most trial-watchers expect Bashir to go free because only one witness, former JI commander Mohammad Nasir Abbas, has singled him out as the spiritual leader of JI.

In September 2003, a court acquitted the 66-year-old of several terrorism charges and said there was no evidence he was the head of JI.

Instead, he served 18 months for immigration violations and was re-arrested using anti-terror statutes as soon as he was released last April.

Maryadi said Bashir had often spoken of the need for a holy war against the west and told his followers they would become martyrs if they fought to defend Islam.

"So it's obvious that his followers will take a practical position," he said.

Bashir's lawyers will make a final response later this week, clearing the way for a decision as soon as next week.

- AAP