Concern over cleric's sentence

Ba'asyir sat impassively as the verdict was delivered

Australia has expressed disappointment at the length of sentence handed down by an Indonesian court to Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

Ba'asyir was sentenced to four years in jail after being found guilty of subversion, but escaped the 15-year sentence which the prosecution had been pursuing.

The cleric was acquitted of the more serious charge of leading a treasonous plot against the government, after judges said there was not enough evidence to prove he was the head of the militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiah (JI).

But the judges also said he clearly knew of the group - which is thought to have associations with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and to have carried out last year's Bali bomb attacks - and supported its aims.

JI has also been implicated in a string of other attacks in East Asia, including last month's Jakarta hotel blast.

This trial is fuelled by the enemy of God, the US Government and its allies Abu Bakar Ba'asyir Profile: Radical cleric

For his part Ba'asyir has refused to admit any wrongdoing, denying the existence of JI, and insisting he is the victim of a conspiracy by the United States.

He says he will appeal against the verdict.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he remained convinced Ba'asyir was indeed the spiritual leader of the group and consequently he should have been jailed for longer.

"We welcome it, but I think there will be some controversy about the shortness of the sentence. We were expecting something more like 10 or 12 years," Mr Downer said.

'Sign of progress'

Most of those who died in last year's bombings in Bali were Australians, and although Ba'asyir has not been charged in connection with that attack, JI is suspected of being behind the blasts.

"I think many would feel it should be a great deal longer," Mr Downer said of Ba'asyir's sentence.

However, he acknowledged that his jailing was nonetheless significant since it took Ba'asyir "out of the system for some period of time" and illustrated that Indonesia was becoming increasingly committed to dealing with terrorism.

Ba'asyir appealed for calm among his supporters

"There has been a significant change in the way Indonesians have addressed these issues since the Bali bombing in October last year and we very much welcome that," he said.

The case was widely regarded as a litmus test of Indonesia's commitment to combat radical Islam.

Masduki Baidlowi, a leading official of the largest Muslim group in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama, said the verdict followed lengthy consideration and should be respected.

The presiding judge said the relatively light sentence took into account the 65-year-old cleric's advanced years, and his polite conduct in court.

Fears of revenge

His sentence was far less than the 15 years demanded by the prosecution, but the BBC's Rachel Harvey in Jakarta says that for Ba'asyir's supporters, any sentence was likely to be considered too much.

There have been fears that hardline militants could launch reprisal attacks over Ba'asyir's sentence.

JI is accused of carrying out the Bali bomb attacks

Ba'asyir sat impassively during the verdict, but as soon as the sentence was announced, his supporters outside the courtroom started shouting anti-American slogans.

Afterwards the cleric told his followers: "I ask you to remain orderly, and be careful of provocateurs from America."

Our correspondent says while some may be surprised by the verdict and length of sentence, for those who have followed the trial closely the outcome will not come as a shock.

The case against Ba'asyir was largely based on witness testimonies - the most accusatory of which came from suspected militant detainees in Singapore and Malaysia.

While some of these witnesses said Ba'asyir was definitely the head of JI, they admitted they only knew this from hearsay rather than personal experience.

Ba'asyir ran a religious boarding school in Central Java, before being arrested in the wake of last October's bombings in Bali.