Indonesia Puts Emir on Trial for Bombings

The alleged spiritual leader of al-Qaida's main terrorist partner in south-east Asia, Abu Bakar Ba'aysir, yesterday went on trial in Jakarta for trying to overthrow the Indonesian government and establish a region-wide Islamic state.

Prosecutors alleged that Mr Ba'aysir, a Muslim cleric from central Java, helped found the Islamist organisation Jemaah Islamiyah while in exile in Malaysia from 1985 to 1999, that he became its emir, or spiritual leader, in 1999, and that he used his recruits to launch attacks across the region.

The main charges relate to the bombings of dozens of churches across Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000 that killed 19 people; an aborted attempt to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri when she was vice president; and a cancelled plan to attack western interests in Singapore.

Mr Ba'aysir, 64, is not accused of participating in last October's Bali bombing, which killed 202 people. There is, however, a widespread belief that he did at the very least sanction the attack.

Three of the alleged ringleaders of the Bali bombing plot have known Mr Ba'aysir for years, are named as co-plotters in the church bombings, and are key prosecution witnesses in his trial.

Dressed in a white Islamic shirt and cap, purple chequered sarong and orange scarf, the feisty but ailing cleric was greeted in the tightly guarded courtroom by several hundred of his supporters shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is most great"). Many wore T-shirts bearing pictures of his face.

Apart from confirming his identity, Mr Ba'aysir sat impassively during the 90-minute session, taking the odd note until asked whether he accepted the indictment.

"I do not accept the charges," he said. "These are lies from America." Mr Ba'aysir denies that Jemaah Islamiyah even exists.

Mr Ba'aysir, who runs an Islamic boarding school in the city of Solo, is also charged with immigration offences related to the falsification of identity papers when he returned from exile in 1999. He had fled after being given a nine-year jail sentence for subverting the regime of General Suharto.

Prosecutors say that because of his actions, the cleric should have his Indonesian nationality revoked.

If convicted of all the charges he faces life imprisonment. The trial is expected to last several months.

The head of the 80-strong defence team, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said afterwards that the whole case against his client was "absurd".

"There are no facts," he said. "This case was engineered after the American authorities, the British authorities, the Australian authorities and [Singapore's senior minister] Lee Kuan Yew mentioned his name as a terrorist.

"The case was then constructed to show that the allegations were true."

Mr Nasution's accusations stem from the fact that much of the prosecution's evidence comes from statements allegedly made by a senior al-Qaida operative, Omar al-Farouq, under American interrogation. He was quietly spirited away from Indonesia by the US last year and is being held at an undisclosed location.

Prosecutors say Mr Farouq's testimony is corroborated by an alleged senior Jemaah Islamiyah operative, Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana.

He is listed as a witness, but is currently detained without charge in Singapore for terrorist-related activities.

"A conviction is certainly no shoo-in", one Jakarta-based western diplomat said. "But the government wants to show its commitment to fighting terrorism, so there'll be a lot of pressure on the prosecutors and the judges. Anything is possible in Indonesia's legal system."

The police announced yesterday, after weeks of no arrests, that they had caught 18 members of Jemaah Islamiyah over the last few days.

The detainees include Abu Rusdan, who allegedly temporarily replaced Mr Ba'aysir as the group's spiritual head after the latter's arrest last October, and Nasir Abbas, a Malaysian who was reportedly the commander of Jemaah Islamiyah's third region, covering the southern Philippines, parts of Borneo and Sulawesi island.

Three of those caught were allegedly involved in the Bali bombing, bringing to 32 the number of Bali suspects.

The national police chief, General Da'i Bachtiar, said officers also found evidence that the group was planning attacks in the run-up to Indonesia's general election next year.

Jemaah Islamiyah - Bali and beyond

Founded by Abdullah Singkar and Abu Bakar Ba'aysir

Operations divided into four regions, or Manthiqi . Manthiqi Ulla covers Malaysia and Singapore; Sani, the majority of Indonesia; Thalib, the southern Philippines, Sulawesi and parts of Borneo; Rabiah covers Australia

Singkar died in 1999. Ba'aysir took over as spiritual leader and Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, as operations chief

Hambali seen as main link between JI and al-Qaida

JI believed responsible for numerous bombings and attempted operations in the past four years in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. Targets included shopping centres in Manila and Jakarta, western embassies in Singapore (a thwarted operation), and mosques in Indonesia (attacks for which Christians were blamed)

Responsible for Bali bombing, which killed 202 people, the biggest terrorist attack since September 11. Many alleged JI members among the 32 suspects held

Dozens of alleged JI members arrested in Malaysia and Singapore in the past 18 months; held under internal security acts which allow for indefinite detention without charge. No trials held

JI believed to have run, and is probably still running, training camps in the region. It is thought to have close links with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a southern Philippines separatist organisation