Witnesses say Ba'asyir as leader of Jamaah Islamiyah

Witnesses say Ba'asyir as leader of Jamaah Islamiyah

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A terror suspect dealt another blow to cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir
on Thursday when he testified that the elderly man was the leader
of regional terrorist network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

"What I know is Ustadz Abu Bakar Ba'asyir is currently the
head of Jamaah Islamiyah," Ahmad Sajuli told the Central Jakarta
District Court on Thursday.

Also testifying during the trial was Ferial Muchlis bin Abdul
Halim. Ferial said Hambali had told him that Ba'asyir had
replaced Sungkar as JI chief.

Hambali, an alleged head of JI, is currently at large.

Ferial, who is also detained in Malaysia, is the son-in-law of
the late Abdullah Sungkar, who founded JI, and a JI commander for
Malaysia's Selangor state.

Ahmad, an Indonesian living in Malaysia, knew Ba'asyir as
Abdus Samad. He said he was introduced to Ba'asyir in Malaysia in
1989.

Previously, Ahmad worked for JI's askari or armed-forces wing.

"My job was to help members of JI who were waging jihad in the
southern Philippines or Afghanistan," Ahmad said, mentioning Camp
Abubakar in the Philippines.

During the trial, he told the court that JI originated from an
Islamic organization called Darul Islam, which fought to turn
Indonesia into an Islamic state in the 1950s.

Darul Islam disbanded in the 1990s as its leaders -- Abdul
Halim, known as Abdullah Sungkar, and Ajengan Masduki -- became
involved in a dispute over the group's vision.

Sungkar, along with a number of other hardliners, including
Ba'asyir, set up JI in 1993, he said. Ba'asyir replaced Sungkar
after his death in 1999.

Witness Agung Biyadi, another Indonesian living in Malaysia,
who is also a terrorist suspect, told the court that JI
originated from Indonesia's Darul Islam group.

As the Indonesian government opposed their movement, some
members of Darul Islam fled to Malaysia, who were then involved
in a dispute with the country.

"JI's long-term goal is to set up an Islamic state in
Indonesia," said Agung, who said that he was not a member of JI,
but he admitted that he was a sympathizer.

Ahmad said JI gave "assistance to oppressed people and
military assistance to fight people who oppress Muslims."

JI, which was formerly based in Malaysia, had relocated to
Indonesia after Ba'asyir assumed the leadership, Ahmad said.

He also revealed links between JI and some groups in the
southern Philippines and Thailand. He said he sent JI members for
weapons training in the Philippines and Afghanistan.

"Our group is a secret one," Ahmad said, adding that the
group's members usually had aliases to hide their identities.

Last week three witnesses detained in Singapore testified that
Ba'asyir leads JI and was involved in a series of bombings in the
country as well as a plot to assassinate then vice president
Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Ba'asyir, 64, has consistently denied the allegations and said
the court's decision to allow teleconferences "has dismissed my
hope for an objective trial".

Prosecutors are attempting to link Ba'asyir to JI, plans to
overthrow the Indonesian government using terrorism to establish
an Islamic state and authorizing the Christmas Eve bombings. He
has not been linked to the Bali blasts.