Indonesia sentences JI leader

Abu Rusdan denied involvement in terrorism

An Indonesian court has sentenced an Islamic leader to three and a half years in prison for involvement in acts of terrorism.

Abu Rusdan was found guilty of hiding one of the men who carried out the Bali bombing in 2002.

Abu Rusdan was also believed to have been a caretaker leader of militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah.

The group has been blamed for attacks including the Bali bombing in 2002, but is not an illegal organisation.

In a separate development, the Indonesian authorities have for the first time been allowed indirect access to the alleged mastermind of the Bali bombing, who is known as Hambali and is currently in US custody at an unknown location.

Indonesia's intelligence chief said he gave written answers to a series of questions about the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) network for whom he was alleged operations chief.

Abu Rusdan is believed to have taken over the leadership of JI from the Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir shortly before the Bali attack, but he has denied involvement in violence.

Hambali was arrested in August

He was found guilty of sheltering the Bali bomber known as Mukhlas, who is among three people who have been sentenced to death for the attack.

"The defendant has been proven guilty of purposely carrying out acts of terror by giving leeway to a terror suspect and hiding information on a terror crime," said Judge Machmud Rochimi at the South Jakarta Court.

Convictions

JI is alleged to have links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda and has been blamed for a string of bombings, including the Bali attacks which killed 202 people and the Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta last August which killed 12.

About 30 people including many alleged JI members have been convicted for their role in Bali.

The Indonesian authorities are still keen to directly question Hambali who was captured in Thailand last August and is being held by the US in connection with the 11 September attacks in New York and Washington.

The chief of Indonesian intelligence, A.M. Hendropriyono, said that despite the lack of physical access, answers to the written questions had provided important information.

"From those we have a picture of the size of the network and the targets for their plans," he said.

Officials believe face to face access could yield vital information about the Bali and Jakarta attacks.