Cleric denies bomb attacks

THE spiritual leader of a group with suspected links to al-Qaida yesterday denied that he ordered deadly bomb attacks against dozens of churches on Christmas Eve 2000 and called the charges “lies from America”.

Dressed in flowing white robes, Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir smiled as he strode into a tightly guarded Jakarta building for the first day of his treason trial in a case that has highlighted Indonesia's commitment to fighting Islamic extremism.

Hundreds of his supporters inside the makeshift courtroom lifted their hands in unison and shouted "Allahu akbar" "God is great."

"I do not accept the charges. These are lies from America," Bashir said after prosecutors read out the allegations. Armed police took him back to jail.

Prosecutors say Bashir could be imprisoned for life if found guilty. The trial is expected to last months and its start was televised live.

Meanwhile, police announced yesterday they had arrested 18 members of Jemaah Islamiyah, including three suspects wanted in October 12 bombings on Bali that killed 202 people.

They also netted caches of explosive material and detonators that indicated the group was planning attacks during next year's elections.

"We do not know their target yet, but preliminary investigation and evidence indicates that they have planned more bombs attacks," Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar said.

During the court hearing, Bashir sat passively as prosecutors read out a 25-page indictment detailing charges that he authorised a near-simultaneous string of church bombings that killed 19 people in 11 towns and cities on December 24, 2000. He has not been charged with the Bali bombings.

The trial was adjourned until April 30, when the defence team will present their case. Bashir, 64, is accused of ordering the bombings against Indonesia's Christian minority in the hope of shattering religious tolerance and destabilising the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Prosecutors said his ultimate aim was to topple Indonesia's secular government and establish a fundamentalist Islamic state that would span much of Southeast Asia. They said he founded the terror group Jemaah Islamiyah and secretly recruited, trained and deployed militants in several countries.

Bashir yesterday maintained that he is a religious teacher, not a terrorist mastermind.