Posted on 09/04/2003 6:17:39 AM PDT by Valin
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - A court on Indonesia's Sulawesi island Thursday sentenced to seven years in jail a Muslim militant convicted of involvement in the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant that killed three people.
Also on Thursday, a Muslim preacher who faces the death sentence for his alleged role in last year's Bali bombings said he was "small fry'' compared to "big terrorists'' like Adolf Hitler, U.S. President George W. Bush and the leaders of Britain and Israel.
Prosecutors in the Bali case say Ali Ghufron, 43, had "general responsibility'' for planning, funding and carrying out the Oct. 12 attack that killed 202 people. They have asked that he be sentenced to death. A verdict is expected in the comings months.
"My death will not influence the war against terror because that will only crush the small fry,'' Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, told the court in his defense plea. "Terrorism will only be fully resolved if states like Israel, America and Britain get out of Muslim countries.''
"Terrorists according to the prosecutors' definition are merely the small fish compared to the big terrorists like Hitler, Ariel Sharon, George Bush and (Tony) Blair,'' Ghufron said.
He is the third key suspect to face the death penalty over the Bali bombings.
One bomber, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, has been sentenced to be executed by firing squad. More than two dozen other suspects are awaiting trial.
All are accused of working for Jemaah Islamiyah, a shadowy Asian terror network allegedly linked to al-Qaida that foreign governments say was founded by Abu Bakar Bashir, a Muslim cleric sentenced Tuesday to four years in jail for sedition by a court in Jakarta.
Bashir, who denies any wrongdoing, was charged in connection to past attacks blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah. The court cleared Bashir of heading the group.
In Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of Jakarta, a court on Thursday sentenced a defendant for failing to inform police about a planned terrorist act. The Dec. 5 blast killed three and injured 15 people.
The man, Suriadi, is the first of 13 suspects arrested in the case to be brought to trial.
Judges said Suriadi _ who like many Indonesians uses only one name _ was also guilty of concealing illegal weapons.
Police say some of the suspects belonged to an Islamic radical group Laskar Jundullah, whose jailed leader Agus Dwikarna has been linked by Philippine police to Jemaah Islamiyah.
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