Indonesia cleric says arms training is God's will
Feb 24, 2011 at 13:10 Views (6549) | | | 74 | |
http://en.news.maktoob.com/20090000597460/Indonesia_cleric_says_arms_training_is_God_s_will/Article.htmBy AFP
JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir told a court Thursday that Muslims have a religious duty to take up arms against non-believers, as he offered his first defence against terrorism charges.
The cleric who is regarded as a spiritual leader of Islamist militants around the region is accused of leading an Al-Qaeda-style militant group that was discovered training recruits in Aceh province last year.
Police jostled with about 200 of the frail 72-year-old's radical supporters as he arrived under tight guard amid shouts of "Allahu akbar" (God is greater).
Wearing his usual white robes, skull cap and shawl, the preacher smiled and looked calm as he was escorted through the crowd by members of the elite Detachment 88 anti-terror police squad.
"I am convinced that based on Islamic sharia (law), the physical and weapons training in a mountainous area in Aceh was an act of worship by Muslims as ordered by God to deter Muslim enemies," he said, reading from a 90-page defence document.
"This exercise is equally as important as prayer, fasting... but this holy task has been insulted by God's enemies, the Detachment 88, by accusing them of being terrorists."
Bashir could face the death penalty if convicted of the charges including leading and financing a terrorist group, and supplying illegal weapons.
The cleric is an alleged co-founder of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror organisation blamed for multiple attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people, mainly Western tourists.
The Islamic teacher, whose former students read like a who's-who of Indonesian extremism, served almost 26 months behind bars for the Bali bombings but his conviction was overturned after his release in 2006.
Prosecutors have also unsuccessfully charged him with involvement in church bombings in 2000 and the Marriott hotel attack in Jakarta in 2003.
Two years after his release from prison Bashir founded Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid to continue agitating for sharia law and holy war against perceived threats to Muslims everywhere.
Police say JAT was a front for a new campaign of terrorism in the world's most populous Muslim-majority state.
Posted: at 26-02-2011 11:59 AM (13 years ago) | Newbie |
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