http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080421/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_militant_leader;_ylt=AvvvwZbtwwNB15LUixpUQCkBxg8F
By ZAKKI HAKIM, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 21, 2:22 PM ET
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Two leaders of the feared Southeast Asian terror
network Jemaah Islamiyah were sentenced Monday to 15 years in jail,
dealing
yet another blow to the group blamed for a string of deadly bombings in
Indonesia.
Abu Dujana, the group's military commander, and Zarkasih, who acted
briefly
as its caretaker leader, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit
terrorist
attacks, harboring fugitives and stockpiling illegal arms.
The rulings were handed down in separate, lengthy trials at the South
Jakarta District Court.
Jemaah Islamiyah and its allies are accused of carrying out the 2002
bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, a 2003 attack on the J.W.
Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, a 2004 attack on the Australian Embassy in
Jakarta, and triple suicide bombings in 2005 on restaurants in Bali.
Many of the more than 240 killed in the attacks were foreign tourists.
Neither Dujana nor Zarkasih - both of whom faced possible death sentences
-
were charged in connection with those blasts.
Dujana's conviction was over recent attacks on Christians on the eastern
island of Sulawesi, which was plagued by religious violence from 1999 to
2001. He has condemned al-Qaida-style bombings, arguing they were
counterproductive to the group's re****ted aim of establi****ng Islamic law
across the region.
Presiding Judge Wahjono, who like many Indonesians uses one name,
sentenced
Dujana to 15 years in prison, saying his recent public condemnations of
terrorism had been taken into account. He also said he was convinced
Dujana
could play a role in helping reform other jailed terrorists.
Asked if he would appeal the ruling, Dujana, 37, said, "I'll think about
it."
Judge Eddy Risdianto said Zarkasih, 45, was given a reduced sentence
because
he only served as a two-month caretaker leader of Jemaah Islamiyah in
2005,
not the emir as had been alleged. The judge also cited his good behavior
in
prison.
The two judges also labeled Jemaah Islamiyah a terrorist group, a move
that
could pave the way for the government to ban the group, something it has
previously said would be difficult because it was not a "formal
organization."
Even without a ban on the network, the government's crackdown has met with
huge success, resulting in hundreds of arrests in recent years, thanks
partly to forensic and technical help from foreign governments.
Jemaah Islamiyah was formed in the early 1990s as an offshoot of another
militant network stretching back decades. Its core leader****p fought or
trained in Afghanistan and some came under the influence of al-Qaida.
A regional crackdown following the Bali attacks netted hundreds of members
and sympathizers, severely weakening the group. Former members and
analysts
say a hard-core faction that carried out the bombings no longer operates
under Jemaah Islamiyah's command
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