JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - The accused leader of an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group was sentenced to 30 months in jail by an Indonesian court on Thursday for conspiracy charges related to the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people, including seven Americans.Abu Bakar Bashir was cleared of more serious charges that he ordered the bombing, which was aimed at foreign tourists and also killed 88 Australians. He was also cleared of charges related to the 2003 bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 and charges he incited his followers to launch terrorist attacks.
``Neither the defense witnesses nor the prosecutors' witnesses said that the defendant has planned or provoked other people to commit the bombings,'' the court said in its verdict. ``The perpetrators of the Marriott bombings admitted they did that on their own will,'' it said. ``Therefore the defendant has to be acquitted from primary charges.''
The five-judge panel said that Bashir, who has been in jail since April, would get credit for time served and could be freed before the end of 2006.