Free Republic

JAKARTA - An Islamic cleric on trial in Indonesia on terrorist charges including over the Bali bombings on Thursday warned President George W. Bush’s reelection victory spelled “disaster” for the United States. Abu Bakar Bashir, who is accused of being a figurehead for the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah regional group accused Bush of meddling in Indonesian affairs and warned of retribution unless he stopped. “Bush’s victory will bring another disaster for America unless he changes his actions,” Bashir told reporters as he arrived for a second day of his trial in which he faces a possible death penalty if convicted....

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir could face the death penalty if convicted on charges over the Bali bombings that killed 88 Australians. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said Bashir was the central figure responsible for training terrorists who carried out the Bali attacks two years ago and was the person who gave the all-clear for the bombings to go ahead. He said Bashir was also behind the failed attempt to bomb Australia's High Commission in Singapore in 2001 and the bombing of Jakarta's Marriott Hotel last year, which killed 12 people. Mr Keelty said he would be surprised...

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has been charged with involvement in the nightclub bombings in the holiday island of Bali that killed 202 people, an official said on Saturday. "He is charged for having a part in the Bali incident," state prosecutor Andi Herman told Reuters. Bashir was charged under the criminal law Number 187 for his involvement in the Bali bombing, Herman said, the maximum penalty under which law is life sentence. The accused leader of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) militant network was charged on Friday with involvement in a suicide bombing attack at...

The Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir will be indicted on charges of terrorism after Indonesian prosecutors today passed their file on the extremist leader to a Jakarta court. Prosecutors lodging the indictment confirmed that Bashir would face charges related to the bombing of Jakarta's Marriott Hotel last year. Prosecutor Andi Herman says the indictment lodged with South Jakarta District Court today contains allegations that Abu Bakar Bashir ordered or motivated other people to take part in a terrorist attack on the Marriott Hotel, which killed 12 people. Abu Bakar Bashir's defence team has consistently ridiculed suggestions that the cleric was...

More flee Darfur as pleas to Bashir go unheeded By David Blair, Africa Correspondent (Filed: 14/10/2004) An upsurge of fighting in Darfur has forced a further 220,000 people to flee their homes for refugee camps and severely disrupted the international relief effort, the United Nations said yesterday. The situation in Sudan's war-torn western region has continued to worsen despite heavy pressure on President Omar al-Bashir's regime and constant official assurances that the violence would be curbed.Members of the Sudanese Liberation Army on parade Mr al-Bashir repeated these pledges when he met Tony Blair in Khartoum last week and agreed to...

The Command Post links to an interview with Abu Bakar Bashir, the “spiritual leader” of Jemaah Islamiyah, the Indonesian arm of al Qaeda whose intention is creating an Islamic Caliphate in the Southern Pacific. This interview reveals the unbending and psychopathic mind that is prevalent in al Qaeda. He accuses America and Australia of orchestrating the recent attack in Jakarta, approves of suicide bombings, blames the plights of Indonesia (terrorism, floods, etc.) on its government’s unwillingness to embrace sharia, claims Afghanistan is innocent of complicity in 9-11, accuses America of working to destroy Islam, the list goes on. The interview...

The Indonesian Muslim cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, is facing the prospect of being tried on terrorism charges. Indonesia's Prosecution Office has sanctioned a dossier of charges against Mr Bashir which will form the basis of an indictment. This will include charges relating to the Marriott Hotel attack in August last year, in which 12 people died. A court in Jakarta has sentenced a 31-year-old Indonesian, Idris, to ten years imprisonment for his part in the same attack. The defendant confessed to helping prepare the attack. He also admitted being involved in the October 2002 Bali bombings but the court could...

Top Indonesian terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir could be charged in connection with last year's Jakarta Marriott hotel bombing, police have said, after charges linked to the Bali bombing were dropped. Detectives are still "investigating links" between Bashir's capacity as alleged head of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and those who carried out the hotel attack, national police spokesman Inspector General Paiman said. "As the head of JI, it is very likely that he could have planned the Marriott attack before his arrest in October, 2002. This is what we are still trying to unravel," Gen Paiman said. Eleven...

Top Indonesian terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir will no longer face charges of involvement in the Bali bombings following a landmark legal ruling last week, Indonesian police have said. The elderly Islamic cleric will still be charged under a tough anti-terrorism law which authorises the death penalty. National detective chief Suyitno Landung told reporters that police would delete accusations related to the October 2002 Bali attack when preparing an evidence file in preparation for a trial. The Constitutional Court last Friday ruled that the retroactive use of the 2003 anti-terrorism law to cover the Bali bombings was unconstitutional, even though...

Bali bombers may be freed by ruling By Marianne Kearney in Jakarta (Filed: 24/07/2004) The convictions of dozens of Islamists involved in the Bali bombings two years ago could be overturned after Indonesia's highest court ruled that the laws under which they were tried were unconstitutional. The constitutional court in Jakarta yesterday declared that the terrorism legislation was invalid as it had passed into law months after the bombings, in which 202 people died, including 28 Britons. The application of retroactive laws is banned under the Indonesian constitution, the court said. "This means we won, this is a victory for...

Police suspect militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was behind a series of bombings that have rocked Indonesia since 1999, a report said. "Bombs have exploded everywhere across the country since 1999 ... We have strong evidence that Bashir was behind these bombings," national police detective chief Suyitno Landung was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying. Landung said police had many witnesses that would testify that Bashir planned the bombings. Police could not immediately be reached for comment. Indonesia has been hit by a series of bomb attacks since 1999, notably the October 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202...

Indonesian police fired warning shots into the air and clashed with supporters of Muslim preacher and terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir in the eastern city of Makassar on Saturday, injuring dozens. A Reuters photographer saw dozens of police beat unarmed students with bamboo sticks while others fired a volley of shots into the air inside an Islamic university compound in the port city, 1,400 kilometres east of Jakarta. Witnesses said the clashes erupted after some of the estimated 500 student protesters dragged a police officer inside the university compound. "The police got angry and fired some shots into the air...

JEMAAH Islamiah-linked cleric Abu Bakar Bashir could face the death sentence for masterminding the Bali bombings, after being released from jail yesterday then immediately rearrested. New evidence, including a report from JI's training camp in The Philippines and statements from witnesses, will be used against the 65-year-old, whose transfer from Jakarta's Salemba prison to police headquarters caused a riot. Bashir was sentenced to four years' jail last year for treason and visa fraud. Charges that he led JI were dismissed for lack of evidence, and he later escaped the treason charges. The visa fraud sentence was reduced to 18 months,...

RENEGADE Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has been arrested and will be charged with masterminding the Bali bombings that killed 202 people including 88 Australians, according to reports. Associated Press reported this morning that Bashir, who until now has claimed ignorance of operations by terror network Jemaah Islamiah, would be charged with the Bali atrocity and other bombings by the group. Top anti-terror official at the security ministry Ansyaad Mbai said: "Abu Bakar Bashir will be charged with all bombings committed by Jemaah Islamiyah because he is the leader of the group," the AP reported. "Many witnesses have said the...

INDONESIAN police have said they will arrest the Jemaah Islamiah-linked cleric Abu Bakar Bashir when he is released today, a decision sure to enrage the cleric's supporters massing outside Jakarta's Salemba prison. National police spokesman Baasyir Bermawi said yesterday Bashir could be detained for a further six months while his links with the terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah were investigated. "We will make the arrest, but I am not sure of the technical details," Inspector-General Bermawi said. However, he said it was likely Bashir would be taken to police headquarters for the legal paperwork to be completed. Bashir has been accused...

DUBAI: Jailed Indonesian militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir has rejected accusations of terrorism, while expressing admiration for al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden, according to the Saudi weekly Al-Majallah. "The American accusations are pure allegations," Bashir, 65, said from prison in an interview for today's edition of the magazine, which is published in London. Bashir denied engaging in "terrorist activities" or being the head of the al-Qa'ida-linked Jemaah Islamiah terror group. Police say they have enough to charge him for a string of terror attacks, including the October 12, 2002, bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians....

EXTREMIST Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir - accused of links to the Bali bombing - could have his imminent release from jail delayed by up to six months while another terrorism case is mounted against him. In a move that will enrage his hardline supporters, Bashir, to be released from Jakarta's Salemba prison on April 30, now has official suspect status. Under Indonesia's anti-terrorism laws he can be held for six months. "Principally, we have declared ... Abu Bakar Bashir a suspect and we have sent the order to prosecutors to initiate his interrogation," national police chief Dai Bachtiar said...

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Security police detained Sudan's leading Islamic opposition leader Hassan Turabi early Wednesday, his wife said. Wisal el-Mahdi told The Associated Press that a large squad of police came to their Khartoum home at about 1:30 a.m. local time and arrested her husband, saying he was "was wanted by the authorities." The arrest came days after the government detained members of Turabi's Popular National Congress and some military officers in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the government of President Omar el-Bashir. "We were expecting this arrest" because of the alleged coup attempt, Wisal el-Mahdi said....

LONDON [MENL] -- Syria's Defense Ministry has been smuggling missile and weapons of mass destruction components to Sudan in an apparent effort to conceal them from Western inspection. Western intelligence sources said the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has been flying shipments of Scud C and Scud D extended-range missiles as well as WMD components to warehouses in Khartoum since at least January 2004. The sources said the Syrian shipments to Khartoum were placed on civilian airliners but authorized and directed by the Defense Ministry. "There is widespread concern in the Syrian regime that Damascus will be the next...

ENRAGED by Australia's push to keep him in prison, the terrorist-linked Islamic preacher Abu Bakar Bashir has warned that Muslims could rise up against Australia and Australians. "The problem which is happening now is not just my problem, it has become a problem for Islam and the people of Islam," Bashir said from his Jakarta prison cell yesterday. "Be careful about that." The angry preacher, who is linked to several convicted Jemaah Islamiah extremists, warned Australians to be wary of Canberra's alliance with US President George W.Bush. "That's a Government controlled by Jews," he said. "The Australian people will be...

Indonesia has received 125 valuable transcripts from the United States interrogation of top terror suspect Hambali, a Foreign Ministry official says. Dino Pati Djalal, the director of the North America desk at the ministry, said: "They do contain valuable intelligence information. "The police will study this information further and make use of it as they see fit." He did not reveal the contents or say whether the transcripts might be used to open a new case against militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, whose three-year jail sentence for immigration offences and document forgery was halved by the Supreme Court this month....

FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer says Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir prediction of a holy war against the west highlight his fanaticism. Bashir has predicted such a holy war will be directed against America and its Iraq war allies, Britain and Australia. Bashir is the suspected spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror network. He made his claim in a secretly recorded interview from his Jakarta jail cell. He says he's convinced that sooner or later America and the countries assisting it will be destroyed in the name of Allah. Mr Downer says Bashir is implicitly calling for the destruction...

The Indonesian Government says there is no evidence to label Abu Bakar Bashir, a Muslim clerk and alleged spiritual leader of a radical Muslim group, as a terrorist. The statement comes after international criticism over a reduction of his prison term that will allow for his release next month. ''We have to be able to distinguish between labelling someone as being involved or not being involved in terrorism and a legal process that needs hard evidence,'' Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said. ''Labelling makes people expect that someone must be punished, but a legal process requires strong evidence to punish someone,''...

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A jailed Muslim cleric sharply criticized the United States on Wednesday after the U.S. Homeland Security chief said the cleric was "intensely and deeply" involved in terrorism. Speaking to The Associated Press from his prison cell, Abu Bakar Bashir dismissed the remarks by Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge. "For him, all Islamic figures are enemies," Bashir said. "It is clear that his government is dishonest because it has killed innocent people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine." Ridge came to Jakarta a day after the Supreme Court cut Bashir's prison term in half, meaning he likely...

Bashir release in weeks By Sian Powell, Jakarta correspondent, John Stapleton and agencies March 10, 2004 THE terrorist-linked Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir will almost certainly be released from prison next month, following an Indonesian Supreme Court decision to halve his sentence. Widely believed to have led Jemaah Islamiah until his arrest in October 2002 following the Bali bombings, Bashir has consistently maintained his innocence

US dismayed by cut to Bashir's jail term WASHINGTON - The US is 'extremely disappointed' by an Indonesian court decision to halve a three-year prison term imposed on militant Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, and urged Jakarta to be firm in its fight against terrorism. Indonesia's Supreme Court has cut the jail term of Bashir, who is accused by regional police of heading the radical Jemaah Islamiah network, from three years to 18 months, a court official said -- Reuters State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said 'extensive evidence' presented during Bashir's trial had described 'his leadership role and his personal...

Indonesia's best-known militant cleric Abu Bakar Bashir will be released from prison on April 4, a court official said after his three-year prison sentence was cut in half. Bashir was detained shortly after the October 2002 Bali bombings amid accusations he headed Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaeda-linked regional Islamic terror group blamed for blasts. He was not implicated in the bombing and was instead convicted on unrelated forgery and immigration charges. Abu Bakar Bashir asks his supporters in the court room to be calm as they shout "God is great" during the final day of his treason trial. Photo: AFP The...

Convicted cleric and suspected Jemaah Islamiah spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir could be free as soon as next month after Indonesia's highest court cut his forgery sentence for the second time. In another victory for the Muslim firebrand, Indonesia's Supreme Court reduced Bashir's sentence to one and a half years, meaning he could be free by April allowing for time already served in jail. Bashir's lawyer Mahendradatta said the court was yet to issue a formal statement about the reduction. But a Supreme Court official confirmed the sentence had been halved from three years to one and a half years....

The chief of the U.N. refugee agency says violence in western Sudan is aggravating an already serious refugee crisis in neighboring Chad. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers visited the remote refugee camp at Farchana, Chad. The Farchana refugee camp lies on a hot and dusty plain about 50 kilometers from the border with Sudan. It is home to about 2,000 Sudanese refugees who have fled a bloody ethnic conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region. Chad is hosting about 110,000 Sudanese refugees and the UNHCR is scrambling to help them. There is a lot of resentment among the...

JUST before his September 11 attacks on the US, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden sent a friendly invitation to the now imprisoned Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir. "Greetings from Osama bin Laden," the extremist leader said in the invitation, apparently forwarded to Indonesia via Jemaah Islamiah ringleader Hambali. Known as al-Qaeda's linkman in Asia, Hambali was then in Afghanistan for unclear reasons. He passed the verbal message on to Mohammad Rais - a detained Jemaah Islamiah operative who was then heading to Indonesia. "Osama bin Laden invites Ustad Abu Bakar Bashir to come to Afghanistan if the conditions for Ustad...

Khartoum - Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said on Wednesday that Sudan would work towards normalising relations with the United States and thanked the US president for his efforts towards a peace deal to end a bloody civil war. Sudan -which Washington lists as a state that sponsors "terror" - is negotiating a deal with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) to end a civil war that has killed more than two million people and displaced up to four million in the south of Africa's largest country. "Sudan will be working towards normalising relations with America post-peace," Bashir said...

<p>An Indonesian appeals court cleared militant leader Abu Bakar Bashir (search) of treason and reduced his sentence on other charges from four years to three, court officials said Monday.</p> <p>The court upheld Bashir's conviction on lesser charges of forging identity documents.</p>

Sudan's peace talks have taken a major step forward with an agreement between the government and the main rebel group to share oil resources. The deal, reached in Kenya, paves the way for a comprehensive peace accord. At the moment, the government controls all the country's oil revenues, but the SPLA rebels have demanded a share. A final peace settlement is expected to be reached soon to end 20 years of civil war in Sudan that have left about two million people dead. Fighting over percentages Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) leader John Garang...

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- An Indonesian appeals court has cleared militant leader Abu Bakar Bashir of treason and reduced his sentence from four years to three, court officials said Monday. The court upheld Bashir's conviction on lesser charges of forging identity documents. Bashir was convicted in September of treason in a plot to overthrow Indonesia's secular government but cleared of charges of being the leader of the al-Qaida linked Southeast Asia terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. The decision was widely criticized by foreign governments who maintain that Bashir is the spiritual head of the group, which has been blamed for...

Mother complains over Bashir interview By Chris Hastings and Elizabeth Day Telegraph Group Limited (Filed: 09/02/2003) The mother of the 12-year-old boy who admitted that he had shared a bedroom with Michael Jackson has defended the singer and reported Martin Bashir's documentary to the Broadcasting Standards Commission.Janet Ventura-Arvizo said yesterday that Mr Bashir's interview with the 44-year-old American performer, entitled Living with Michael Jackson, was a "gross distortion of the truth" that breached broadcasting guidelines governing interviews with children.She has now instructed Theodore Goddard, the London law firm, to lodge official complaints with the commission, which oversees British television, and...

KHARTOUM: The United States has agreed to lift its sanctions on Sudan and remove the country from its list of nations sponsoring terrorism, independent Al Rai Al Aam daily reported Saturday. Reporting from New York, the newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail as saying “lifting the sanctions and taking the Sudan’s name from the list of terrorism have been agreed upon and what remains now is the timing of making those steps.” The agreement was reached after meetings Ismail held with several US officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner, the newspaper reported. On Friday, the...

First posted on 20 August 2003 and updated on 23 August 2003, the analysis below suggests a 9-1-1 type event being planned by al Qaeda and its supporters. It is posted here for reference purposes. New information has been developed that appears to supplement this information and analysis. This year in North America, Ramadan is "celebrated" from 27 October through 25 November 2003. Many references have been made to Ramadan being "different this year" as reported in our 16 September 2003 update. According to a references made by Sheik Bashir, relevant excerpts here: It will be an event that concerns...

<p>On Tuesday, an Indonesian court sentenced Jemaah Islamiya leader Abu Bakar Bashir to four years in prison. The verdict is both good and bad news. The positive side is that a dangerous man responsible for spreading jihad against the West will be taken off the streets and kept from preaching in mosques for a little while. The hitch is that he was found guilty of treason for trying to overthrow the government in Jakarta, not of being the mastermind behind Southeast Asia's most active al Qaeda affiliate. The court's split decision reflects Indonesia's split personality regarding terrorism.</p>

In Indonesia, where an election is looming, people only take on enemies they know they can beat, writes Greg Barton. How much should we read into Tuesday's unexpectedly lenient sentence for the Jemaah Islamiah leader, Abu Bakar Bashir? It would be nice to believe that the verdict and four-year sentence on Bashir have no particular meaning beyond reminding us of the uncertainty that accompanies any legal proceeding. Few who have followed the case, however, whether here or in Indonesia, are going to read it that way. For Bashir's supporters and fellow travellers the verdict is a vindication of not only...

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A court sentenced Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir on Tuesday to four years in prison for sedition, but threw out charges that he belonged to al-Qaida's main Asian ally - even though some of Southeast Asia's top terror suspects have named him as the group's spiritual leader. The trial was seen as a key test of Indonesia's commitment to confronting Islamic militancy, and the mixed result and lenient sentence was a blow to Indonesia's efforts to combat terrorism. Judges said there was insufficient evidence that the ailing, soft-spoken 65-year-old preacher is the top power behind - or...

An Indonesian court today sentenced Abu Bakar Bashir, an elderly Islamic cleric, to four years in prison for treason and other offences. A panel of judges had found Bashir guilty of treason but said he was not guilty of leading a plot to overthrow the government. Nor, it said, was there proof that Bashir headed the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group. However, the panel found him guilty of forgery and immigration offences. Following the verdict, Bashir said he would appeal. Chief judge Muhammad Saleh said: "There is not enough evidence to say that the defendant Abu Bakar Bashir is the leader...

Sept. 2 — JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian court jailed Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir for four years on treason charges Tuesday, but said there was not enough evidence to prove he led the radical Jemaah Islamiah network blamed for bombings in Southeast Asia. The sentence was less than the 15 years demanded by the prosecution in the case, which has been widely seen as a test of the willingness of the world's most populous Muslim nation to crack down on radical Islam. The 65-year-old preacher and educator, who rejected all charges against him and earlier denounced the prosecutors as...

The Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia Sept. 2 — A court on Tuesday acquitted a Muslim cleric accused of heading an al-Qaida-linked Asian terror group and plotting to overthrow the government, giving a surprise verdict in a case seen as a test of Indonesia's willingness to fight terror. The ruling was greeted by joyous cheers from hundreds of supporters of Abu Bakar Bashir, who was alleged to be the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah, a terror network blamed for a string of bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines. "There is not enough evidence to prove that the defendant ... led...

TERRORIST group Jemaah Islamiyah has drawn up plans for a suicide bombing campaign designed to transform Asia and the Pacific region into Islamic provinces. Alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, Abu Bakar Bashir / AP The scheme is revealed in a 40-page manifesto - the Pupji book or General Guide to the Struggle of JI - which also shows that Jemaah Islamiyah is a well-formed organisation with a constitution, rules of operation, and leadership structure. The book refers to "love of Jihad in the path of God and love of dying as a martyr" as one of the group's 10...

Its chilling contents are a handbook for death, mayhem and world domination. The Herald has obtained a copy of the secret Jemaah Islamiah manual, General Guide to the Struggle, which instructs how to wage war against infidels and spread JI's brand of Islam to "the four corners of the Earth". It lists "love of jihad (holy war) in the path of God and love of dying as a martyr" as fundamental JI tenets. Enemies are "satanic demons and satanic humans". The manual, known in Indonesia by its acronym PUPJI (Pedoman Umum Perjuangan Jemaah Islamiah), contains a constitution, outlines the roles...

<p>BALI, Indonesia &#8212; The youngest of three Indonesian brothers being tried for last year's deadly blasts on the tourist island of Bali begged for forgiveness yesterday, telling a court that the attack was wrong and besmirched Islam.</p> <p>Though Ali Imron faces charges of plotting and organizing terror crimes similar to those of his older siblings, he has repeatedly shown remorse during the trial rather than the pride and defiance of his brothers.</p>

Abu Bakar Bashir, the Indonesian Muslim cleric accused of leading the terrorist group blamed for the Bali bombings, broke down in tears yesterday and warned judges at his treason trial that they would "go to hell" if they convicted him.   Abu Bakar Bashir delivers his defence statement In scenes that stunned onlookers he told prosecutors to repent for assisting "the infidel enemies of Islam".In a defence statement brimming with defiance and devoid of any remorse for victims of bombings across Indonesia, he said his trial was stage-managed by the "terrorist state of America".He accused "hypocrite" states such as the...

Two-year hunt tracked al-Qa'ida 'branch manager' to Thailand By Kathy Marks in Sydney 16 August 2003 A two-year manhunt across South-east Asia ended in the back streets of the ancient Thai city of Ayutthaya, where Riduan Isamuddin, one of the linchpins of al-Qa'ida's terrorist network, was arrested at a block of flats with a cache of weapons and explosives. Isamuddin, alias Hambali, a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, was being questioned by US investigators at a secret location yesterday and his capture was hailed as a massive coup in the fight against terrorism. On the run since late 2001, Hambali,...

  Sun Aug 10,10:43 AM ET In a message sent from his jail cell, the Indonesian cleric believed to lead the militant Jemaah Islamiah group urged Muslims on August 10, 2003 to adhere to their faith without fear of being labeled 'terrorists.' The fiery address from Abu Bakar Bashir came as officials at a school he set up confirmed that a man identified by police as the suicide bomber who triggered last week's huge blast at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel was one of their pupils. Bashir is shown in this August 5, 2003 file photo. (Dadang Tri/Reuters)  Cleric to Indonesians:...

Jailed Muslim cleric issues defiant message By Alex Spillius, South-East Asia Correspondent (Filed: 11/08/2003) More than 3,000 Islamic militants attended a rally in Indonesia yesterday to support the jailed cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the spiritual leader of the group blamed for last week's attack on a Jakarta hotel and the Bali bombings last year. In a message from his prison cell, where he is awaiting the resumption of his trial for attacks on churches and treason, 64-year-old Bashir said Muslims should strive to impose Islamic law without fear of being labelled terrorists."Do not be afraid of being labelled as trying...