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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...