Singaporean witnesses implicate Ba'asyir in bombing<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A confessed terrorist broke down in tears as he testified that
\nMuslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, was the leader of regional
\nterror group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and was involved in plans to
\nassassinate then vice president Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
Testifying in the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday
\nvia a live video linkup from Singapore where he is in detention,
\nMalaysian Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana became the first witness to
\nimplicate Ba'asyir, saying the cleric \"had blessed\" a series of
\nchurch bombings in the country in 2000 and a mall bombing.<\/p>\n
He also said that Ba'asyir was also involved in sending armed-
\nmilitia to the Maluku province, where thousands have died in
\nbloody fighting between Muslims and Christians.<\/p>\n
Bafana said Ba'asyir ordered an assassination attempt against
\nMegawati, now President, when he visited the cleric in Surakarta,
\nCentral Java, sometime in 2000, because she was too close to
\nChristians.<\/p>\n
\"I later told Mukhlas, who was in Malaysia, about his order.
\nBut he (Mukhlas) said that we did not have the capability to do
\nthat. I did not know what happened next,\" said Bafana, referring
\nto a suspect in the Bali bombing who is currently on trial.<\/p>\n
Bafana, 41, who admitted that he was the treasurer of JI
\nchapter in Singapore, said JI operations spanned Malaysia,
\nIndonesia, Australia and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
When he asked why he was crying he said it was because
\nBa'asyir was like a father to him.<\/p>\n
JI, believed to be connected to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda
\nterror network, has been included on the United Nations' list of
\nbanned terror groups.<\/p>\n
Bafana was one of three detained alleged terrorists testifying
\nfrom Singapore.<\/p>\n
Another witness, Singaporean Ja'far Mistuki, testified that
\nBa'asyir was JI's leader and as such would have known about all
\nthe group's activities.<\/p>\n
The last witness, Singaporean Hashim bin Abbas, said all
\ndecisions made within JI needed the approval of its head, \"just
\nlike in the military\".<\/p>\n
Hashim, who identified Ba'asyir as Ustadz Abu Samad, said
\nBa'asyir was JI's leader.<\/p>\n
He said JI moved its headquarters from Malaysia to Indonesia
\n\"to make things easier\" but did not specify the year.<\/p>\n
The trio are among 13 JI suspects detained without trial in
\nSingapore under the Internal Security Act since December 2001 for
\ninvolvement in an alleged bomb plot.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Ba'asyir's team of lawyers walked out of
\nthe courtroom in protest after judges overruled their objections
\nto the teleconference.<\/p>\n
They said the video link was not recognized by Indonesia's
\nlegal system and expressed doubt as to whether the witnesses
\ncould testify \"without fear and intimidation\".<\/p>\n
Bafana, during his testimony, denounced terrorism as
\n\"shameful\" and called on fellow JI members to \"return to the true
\npath\".<\/p>\n
The JI bombings, Bafana said, aimed \"to avenge attacks by
\nChristians on Muslims\" but he added: \"We have to love our Muslim
\nbrothers, but we also have to love our non-Muslim brothers.\"<\/p>\n
He said that he was sorry for what he did and called on \"all
\nJI ustad (teachers) to surrender to authorities in their home
\ncountries.\"<\/p>\n
Ba'asyir said earlier that he did not recognize the legitimacy
\nof the hearing. He remained calm and silent and continued to read
\nfrom a book during the session.<\/p>\n
Both Hashim and Ja'far also urged Ba'asyir to admit the
\nexistence of JI and that he led the group.<\/p>\n
\"Don't betray us as loyal JI members,\" Ja'far said.<\/p>\n
In a related development, Ba'asyir sued Time magazine, editor
\nKarl Taro Greenfeld, writer Romesh Ratnesar and reporter Jason
\nTejasukmana over its article published in Time's Sept. 15, 2002
\nedition, detailing alleged confessions by a suspected al-Qaeda
\noperative, Omar al Faruq, against Ba'asyir.<\/p>\n
The US$120 million lawsuit was presented by his team of
\nlawyers at the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Achmad Michdan, who represented Ba'asyir, said that the
\nreport had damaged his client's reputation and was a lie.<\/p>",
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