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Alleged operations chief behind bombs goes on trial in Bali

An Islamic militant who is said to have fought alongside Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, goes on trial tomorrow accused of planning and channeling the funds for last year's bombings on the resort island of Bali.

Ali Ghufron is the alleged operations chief of Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaeda linked regional terror group blamed for the Oct. 12 nightclub blasts that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

The trial of the 43-year-old Islamic preacher is expected to shed light on the inner workings of the group, which investigators believe still poses a threat despite the arrests of scores of its alleged operatives in Southeast Asia over the last year.

Ghufron's indictment, a copy of which was seen yesterday by The Associated Press, shows how he and other Southeast Asian militants crisscrossed the region in the '80s and '90s, allegedly developing contacts and forming the nucleus of Jemaah Islamiyah.

The document accuses Ghufron of attending a key meeting in February 2002 in Bangkok where three other conspirators in the attack agreed to "undertake a Jihad operation" in Indonesia against the US and its allies.

Also present at the meeting was Malaysian Wan Min Wan Mat, a former university lecturer currently under detention in Malaysia, who allegedly provided money for the attacks.

Wan Mat is expected to testify in Ghufron's trial via video link. His testimony could reveal whether funds for the Bali bombings originated from al-Qaeda, as has been widely speculated.

Ghufron is one of 34 suspects arrested over the bombings. He is the third of at least 10 people identified as playing a direct role in the bombings to stand trial. Like several others in custody, he has admitted involvement in the attacks.

If found guilty, he faces the death penalty under anti-terror laws rushed through in the days after the bombings.

The indictment alleges that Wan Mat gave Ghufron US$15,000 in southern Thailand in March 2002 to fund the bombings. He later received a further US$15,000 from unidentified couriers, the 30-page document says.

Ghufron is alleged to have visited Bali twice in the months before the attacks. On three consecutive nights he toured the nightclub strip that was bombed, the indictment says.

He also allegedly inspected the bombs when they were under construction.
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