The Jakarta Post, 11/30/2004 4:43:51 PM
Jailed militant says Ba'asyir never spoke to him of plotting
attacks
JAKARTA (AFP): A Malaysian Muslim militant jailed in Indonesia said on Tuesday
that alleged former regional terror chief Abu Bakar Ba'asyir never spoke of plans to
attack Western interests during encounters with him.
Syamsul Bahri, testifying in Ba'asyir's terrorism trial, said he was told by another
militant that Ba'asyir had succeeded Abdullah Sungkar as the leader of the Jamaah
Islamiyah extremist group but was not aware of his inauguration.
"I've never heard of bombing plans from ustadz (teacher) or talk of that sort. There
were only religious messages," Bahri, a 27-year-old British-trained engineer, told the
court.
Bahri said he met Ba'asyir on three occasions -- in Pakistan when he was studying
Islam, in Malaysia and in Indonesia. Ba'asyir denied he met Bahri in Pakistan.
A Jakarta court jailed Bahri for three years in July for attending Jamaah Islamiyah
meetings last year to plan terror attacks in Indonesia.
Ba'asyir, an Islamic cleric, is accused of inciting followers to carry out the October
2002 Bali nightclub bombings in which 202 people died and of plotting last year's
attack on the Jakarta Marriott hotel in which 12 were killed.
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