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| Southeast Asia | |
| Cleric 'was militant group head' | |
| 2004-12-21 | |
| A key witness in the trial of Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir has backed prosecution claims that he headed a radical Islamist group. Nasir Abbas, a Malaysian who says he is a former member of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), said Ba'asyir was the regional leader for the militant network. Mr Abba's statement is the first testimony in this trial which appears to support the prosecution's case. Ba'asyir denies any link with JI, which is accused of a string of attacks. Mr Abbas told the court that in 2001 he had been sworn in as a regional commander of JI by Ba'asyir, whom he identified as the amir or spiritual leader of the organisation. He said he had been an instructor at a militant camp in the southern Philippines when Ba'asyir paid a visit there, to witness a graduation ceremony. Mr Abbas said the defendant had given a speech to new recruits in which he said that everything they were doing was part of a jihad or holy war. "Ba'asyir headed Jemaah Islamiah. He gave a speech in front of the students and stayed there for two or three days," Abbas said. The cleric, reading out a written statement, denied all of Mr Abbas' accusations. "Regarding his statement that I was an amir, I was never one. I never attended the ceremony, nor was I appointed as the amir. I will not accept that statement as correct," Ba'asyir said.
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| Posted by:Steve |