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Ba'asyir 'successor' arrested
By Amy Chew, for CNN
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir's, the alleged spiritual leader of a regional terrorist group, has gone on trial for trying to topple the government and authorizing the bombings of churches across Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000. Ba'asyir's trial opened as police arrested his alleged successor who took over the reins of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) , a group of terrorists linked to al Qaeda and blamed for last year's Bali bombings which killed over 200 people. Ba'asyir is not charged with the Bali bombings. Police identified Ba'asyir's successor as Abu Rusdan. He was arrested on Wednesday morning in Kudus, Central Java, almost the same time as Ba'asyir's trial opened. "According to information from his friends, he (Abu Rusdan) is the current emir of Jemaah Islamiyah, the successor of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir," Indonesia's top detective Erwin Mappaseng told reporters. "He (Rusdan) organizes the (JI's) agenda and they have already held meetings several times," said Mappaseng. Rusdan was appointed almost immediately after Ba'asyir was detained by police last October. Prosecutors accused Ba'asyir of authorizing the bombings of 38 churches across Indonesia on the eve of Christmas 2000 which killed 19 people and threatened the religious harmony in the country. He is also charged with plotting to topple the Indonesian government and turn the world's largest Muslim country into an Islamic state. According to prosecutors, Ba'asyir founded JI and recruited, trained and deployed militants in several countries. The cleric, 64, faces life imprisonment if he is found guilty. During the trial, prosecutors have promised to show that Ba'asyir had numerous meetings with JI members and that he plotted and gave his blessing to a number of terrorists attacks with the aim of destabilizing the government. Ba'asyir has denied ties to both JI and al Qaeda. He said during Wednesday's session that he does not accept the charges against him. Some 100 Ba'asyir's supporters and students, all dressed in white Muslim robes, attended the trial. They shouted "God is Great" when he entered the courtroom. There was a tense moment when Ba'asyir left the courtroom at the end of the trial. His followers scuffled with the police in their attempt to touch their teacher. The trial is now adjourned for one week to allow the lawyers to lodge their objections to the charges filed against their client. Outside the courtroom, Ba'asyir's son rejected the charges made against his father, saying:"My father has never taught violence." Malaysian suspect arrestedPolice say JI has been weakened following the arrest of Abu Rusdan and 17 other suspected JI members. Of the 18, four are alleged to be the bomb-makers of the devastating Bali blast. During the arrest, the police also found a large cache of weapons including 6,620 bullets, home-made bombs, dozens of detonators, two revolvers and explosive material. A Malaysian, Nasir Abbas, was among those arrested. Abbas is said to head JI's Mantiqi III -- a regional JI command comprising Brunei, Malaysia's Sabah state, southern Philippines and Indonesia's island of Sulawesi and Kalimantan province. "Abbas is also wanted by the Malaysian authorities," police spokesman Edward Aritonang told reporters. Dozens of JI's members have been arrested in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines for plotting to attack Western interests across the region. -- CNN Jakarta Correspondent Atika Shubert contributed to this report
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