Bali suspect creates stir in court

An Islamic militant who prosecutors alleged fought under Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan went on trial yesterday accused of overall responsibility for last year's Bali bombings.

Police accuse Ali Ghufron of being the 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.

Dressed in a white Muslim shirt and skull cap, the 43-year-old Islamic preacher raised his fist and angrily shouted "god is great" as he took the stand in a temporary courthouse on the resort island.

Ghufron, also known by his alias Mukhlas, is the third key suspect to stand trial over the bloodiest terror attack since the Sept. 11 strikes against the US.

His trial is expected to reveal the inner workings of Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been accused of plotting a series of foiled attacks in Southeast Asia. Police say the group still poses a threat despite the arrest of scores of its alleged operatives in the region over the past year.

Prosecutor Putu Indriati told the court that Ghufron had "general responsibility" for the attack and played a key role in channeling the funds for it.

"When he heard on the radio about the bomb exploding on Bali, he thanked god because the plan had succeeded and many of the victims were America's allies, including Australians," she said.

Ghufron and his fellow conspirators wanted to avenge the US' alleged "indiscriminate slaughter and oppression of Muslims" and chose Bali as a target because of the large number of foreign tourists there, Indriati said.

She alleged Ghufron attended a meeting in February last year 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.

She said that Wan Mat later gave Ghufron US$15,000 in southern Thailand to fund the bombings. He also received a further US$15,000 from unidentified couriers, she said.

Ghufron divided up the money and on separate occasions gave it to other suspects to pay for explosives, equipment and expenses incurred while planning the attack, she alleged.

Security was tight at the hearing, which was mostly attended by reporters. Hundreds of police patrolled the courthouse and manned roadblocks on nearby streets.

If found guilty, Ghufron faces the death penalty under anti-terror laws rushed through in the days after the bombings. He is the eldest of three brothers accused of playing a key role in the bombings.

Indriati alleged that Ghufron visited Bali twice in the months before the attacks and on three consecutive nights toured the nightclub strip that was bombed.

"After seeing that all the preparations were going along as planned. the defendant then motivated [the bombers] to carry out the blasts," she said.

The court heard how Ghufron fled to Malaysia in 1985 where he taught at a religious school alongside Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah. Bashir is currently on trial in Jakarta, accused of treason and a series of church bombings.

In 1987, Ghufron traveled to Afghanistan, where he met Osama bin Laden and fought with him against the country's Russian invaders, Indriati said.

His lawyers plan to challenge the laws under which he was arrested, saying they are invalid in this case because they were passed after the crime. In earlier trials, judges already have dismissed this line of defense.

The trial was adjourned until next week, when prosecutors will present their objections to the indictment.