Free Republic

Fight until this country is governed by Syariah law ----------------- Inside a jail here, hundreds of people dressed in Muslim garb gathered round a mosque and listened intently to the words of a bespectacled, elderly man. “Live an honourable life. Fight until this country is governed by Syariah law,” said Abubakar Ba’asyir to shouts of “Allahu Akhbar” during a breaking of the fast in the holy month of Ramadan in October. Abubakar, 65, the Indonesian Muslim cleric accused by foreign governments of being the spiritual leader of regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), continues to draw people to him from...

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...