Ba'asyri's lawyer eyes presidency

Ba'asyri's lawyer eyes presidency

JAKARTA: A lawyer representing a high-profile terror suspect announced on Wednesday that he was considering a run for the presidency in 2004.

"God willing, I will accept this mandate," Mahendradatta, who is coordinator the defense of terror suspect Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, told a cheering crowd outside a Jakarta court.

The lawyer was responding to scores of Ba'ayir supporters who asked him to run for president in order to protect the interests of Muslims.

The supporters, from the Indonesian Mujahideen Council and the Front for the Defenders of Islam in the city of Surakarta, displayed banners outside the courthouse that read: "Welcome, Mr. Mahendradatta, president in 2004."

Ba'asyir, the alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group, began his defense on Wednesday in his treason trial. The case was adjourned until May 7.

Muslim cleric Ba'asyir is accused of waging a bloody terror campaign to try to topple the government and to set up an Islamic state. --AFP