Ba'asyir rebukes attack on RI soil

Ba'asyir rebukes attack on RI soil

Agence France Presse, Jakarta

Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir told his terrorism trial on
Tuesday that religious extremists were wrong to stage attacks in
Indonesia because the world's largest Muslim-populated country
was not at war with anyone.

Ba'asyir said if Muslims wanted to wage jihad or holy war
against the United States, they should go to countries like
Afghanistan.

The 66-year-old hardline preacher is on trial for inciting
followers to stage the Bali bombings and a deadly attack on the
Jakarta Marriott hotel. He could face the death penalty if
convicted.

"I don't agree with the Marriott bombers. Maybe their
intention was to defend Islam but their method was wrong,"
Ba'asyir told the court.

"If they want to fight America they should go to Afghanistan.
Jihad by taking up arms should only be carried out in conflict
areas," he said.

Ba'asyir again denied he was the chief of Jemaah Islamiyah
(JI), an extremist group said to have links to Al-Qaeda and
blamed for the Bali and Marriott bombings as well as a string of
other attacks in Indonesia in recent years.

He said he once wrote an article about suicide attacks but it
was only for academic purposes.

Ba'asyir accused the United States of waging an ideological
war against Islam by spreading twisted interpretations of the
religion.

"That is why I'm against America and I call on the government
to sever diplomatic relations with America. The move will be much
more powerful than bombings," he said.

Ba'asyir has maintained that his incarceration was demanded by
the United States because he was critical of Washington's
policies in the Islamic world.

One of Ba'asyir's lawyers, Mohammad Assegaff, said prosecutors
had failed in their attempt to link Ba'asyir to Bali and the
Marriot bombing because none of convicted bombers presented as
witnesses linked the cleric to the attacks.

Ba'asyir, who was cleared in 2003 of leading JI, was released
in April last year shortly after Indonesia's legislative
elections. He was immediately rearrested by police, who said they
had new evidence of terror links.

Prosecutors in their indictment said Ba'asyir, as JI chief,
visited a rebel training camp in April 2000 and relayed a "ruling
from Osama bin Laden which permitted attacks and killings of
Americans and their allies." He has denied making such a visit.

The Bali bombings killed 202 people and the Jakarta Marriott
hotel strike in August 2003 left 12 dead. JI has also been blamed
for a suicide attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta last
September which killed 11.