JAKARTA, Oct 28 (AFP) - An Indonesian Muslim cleric went on trial here Thursday accused of leading the Al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah Southeast Asian terror network behind the the deadly Bali and Marriott hotel bombings.
Prosecutor Salman Maryadi accused Abu Bakar Bashir, 66, of having "planned and/or incited others to engage in a crime of terrorism." He could face death if found guilty under tough anti-terrorism laws issued after the Bali attacks.
Maryadi said Bashir had planned or incited others to carry out last year's Jakarta Marriott hotel bombing which killed 12 people.
The bespectacled Bashir, sporting a white Muslim cap and a white shawl strung over a greyish vest, declared his innocence after arriving at the court flanked by heavily armed anti-terrorism police.
Around 650 police including snipers ringed the court building as Bashir's trial got underway amid shouts of "Allahu Akbar (God is Great)" from his supporters.
Prosecutors told the heavily-guarded courtroom in South Jakarta that the defendant led the Jemaah Islamiyah group, which seeks to establish an Islamic state in Southeast Asia through armed holy war.
The group, seen as Al-Qaeda's Southeast Asian proxy, had formed a military training camp called Camp Hudaibiyah in the southern Philippines to train members for Jihad.
Maryadi said Bashir visited the military training camp in April 2000 and relayed a "ruling from Osama bin Laden which permitted attacks and killings of Americans and their allies."
Several members of the group who trained at the academy went on to conduct terrorist actions, the indictment says.
Among them were Azahari Husin and Noordin Muhammad Top, two Malaysians accused of involvement in both the Bali and Marriott attacks.
They remain on the loose. Police say they are the prime suspects behind the Australian embassy bombing here last month, which killed 10 people.
Bashir is not charged with the embassy blast.
In a second count to be heard at his trial, he faces a possible 20 years to life in prison under the criminal code for involvement in "a sinister conspiracy" which endangers or costs the lives of others.
The charge relates to the Bali bombing, which killed 202 people on October 12, 2002.
Earlier Bashir protested his innocence, saying "it is clear that I feel I am innocent, I am certain of that."
"All who do not agree with the interest of George Bush are terrorists," Bashir said.
The fiercely anti-American Bashir and his lawyers have repeatedly said that his detention and trials are the results of pressure from the United States.
The case against Bashir was prepared well before Indonesia's new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office last week but the trial will be closely watched as a gauge of the country's commitment to fighting terrorism.
Yudhoyono has made tackling terrorism a priority, particularly in the wake of the Australian embassy attack.
The trial venue was tightly guarded by a total of 650 police members, including several snipers, South Jakarta police chief Senior Commissioner Gufron said.
Bashir was sentenced to four years in jail in September 2003 for involvement in a Jemaah Islamiyah plot to overthrow the government but judges said there was no proof he led the network. Higher courts overturned the treason conviction.
Amid a violent protest by his supporters, Bashir was re-arrested by police on suspicion of terrorism last April moments after he finished serving a 18-month jail term for immigration offences.
10/28/2004 04:22 GMT - AFP