Indonesian terror suspects held as Islamist trial opens
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Your support makes all the difference.Indonesian police scored another success in the fight against Islamic terrorism in South-east Asia yesterday, arresting 18 members of Jemaah Islamiyah, including the man believed to be its acting spiritual leader.
Abu Rusdan was detained hours before his predecessor, Abu Bakar Bashir, went on trial in Jakarta, accused of ordering a string of church bombings that killed 19 people and seeking to overthrow Indonesia's secular government.
Mr Bashir chose Mr Rusdan to succeed him after he was arrested following last October's nightclub bombings, which killed 202 people on Bali. Police, who arrested Mr Rusdan in Kudus, Java, said they also found a cache of explosives similar to those used in Bali in raids in various cities.
Detectives have failed to link Mr Bashir with the Bali bombing but he faces a possible life sentence if convicted of treason and terrorism charges. Yesterday he protested his innocence, saying: "I do not accept the charges. These are lies from America."
A cry of "Allahu Akbar!" (God is great) went up from hundreds of Mr Bashir's supporters gathered in the courtroom in a government building as Mr Bashir entered, dressed in flowing white robes. Mr Bashir, 64, who ran a radical Islamic boarding school in Solo, central Java, sat impassively as a 25-page indictment was read out. Prosecutors alleged that he authorised the bombing of churches in 11 Indonesian towns and cities on Christmas Eve 2000 in the hope of shattering religious harmony and destabilising the world's most populous Muslim nation. They claimed that in 1993 he founded Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional group linked with al-Qa'ida, and secretly trained and deployed militants in several countries.
Mr Bashir was also accused of plotting to assassinate the Indonesian President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, when she was vice-president, and of "giving his blessing" to terrorist attacks planned against Western targets in South-east Asia.
The trial is being seen as a test of Indonesia's commitment to crack down on homegrown terrorism. The case, which is expected to last for months, was adjourned until next Wednesday.
The latest arrests marked another coup for Indonesian police, who surprised their critics by cracking the Bali plot within a matter of weeks. Police said that those detained in the past week included three men suspected of involvement in the Bali attacks as well as Nasir Abbas, who is believed to be a senior Jemaah Islamiyah operative.
The chief of police, Da'I Bachtiar, said Jemaah Islamiyah was suspected of plotting further attacks in the run-up to next year's general election in Indonesia.
Weapons and documents were picked up during the raids, together with dozens of detonators and 40 kilos (88lb) of fertiliser similar to the explosives used in Bali. A total of 32 people suspected of involvement in the Bali bombs are now in custody, and the first trials are expected to begin next month.
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