Article

2009-02-27 Southeast Asia

A SINGAPOREAN Islamist told an Indonesian court on Thursday he had met Osama bin Laden and had tried to recruit Indonesians to follow the Al-Qaeda leader's call to jihad or 'holy war'. Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin told the South Jakarta district court he had established a terror cell and passed on bomb-making techniques with a view to carrying out attacks against Christians and Westerners in Indonesia.

'I've met Osama bin Laden a few times in Afghanistan. I've learned the lesson of jihad from him,' Hasan said in testimony during his trial alongside two other suspected members of his cell.

'It wasn't easy meeting Osama bin Laden. He wouldn't disclose his identity to regular people.'

The defendants are among 10 suspects arrested in Palembang, South Sumatra in June and July last year with alleged links to some of the region's most wanted terrorists from the regional Jemaah Islamiyah network.

Hasan, who has openly talked to the media from prison about his contacts with bin Laden, admitted to the court that he was the ringleader of the Palembang cell.

'I was the one who initially urged them to jihad,' he said. 'I taught them how to make bombs. I ordered them to gather all the bomb materials.'

He also said he had known Hambali, an alleged Indonesian terror mastermind and Guantanamo detainee, since 1995.

One of Hasan's co-accused, former Islamic school principal Abdul Rahman Taib, dismissed any links to Jemaah Islamiyah which is blamed for a string of deadly attacks around South-east Asia over the past decade.

'This is a new generation. We learn jihad from the Koran and the Internet,' he said.

At the time of their arrests, police said they found 20 improvised bombs and a safe house in Palembang. The cell is accused of planning to bomb a backpacker cafe in the tourist town of Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, and kill two Christian priests in Jakarta in August 2006.

They also allegedly attacked Christian priest Yosua Winardi with a hammer in the same year and murdered Christian teacher Dago Simamora in June 2007.

Taib admitted to plotting and carrying out attacks against Christians, including the aborted plan to bomb the tourist cafe.

'Dago Simamora was killed because he forbade his students to wear headscarves at school,' he said.

Posted by Fred 2009-02-27 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top
File under: Jemaah Islamiyah

#1 You too?

D *** NG IT, SO IS HE STILL IN LOVE WITH WHITNEY HUSTON, OR NOT???

Posted by JosephMendiola 2009-02-27 01:18|| 2009-02-27 01:18|| Front Page Top

#2 OOOOOOOOO, you just know My-DOG-IS-NAMED-AFTER-GUAM MARIAH CAREY wants in on the love.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2009-02-27 01:22|| 2009-02-27 01:22|| Front Page Top

#3 Ohhh, he was there, and had a plane to catch. Left you idiots to contend with the turmult.

How is that going by the way?

P.S. Just because puppies hump does not mean they are in love; they hump everything.

Posted by newc">newc 2009-02-27 01:58|| 2009-02-27 01:58|| Front Page Top

#4 So who in that neck o' the woods Hasn't met bin Laden?

Posted by William Marcy Tweed 2009-02-27 10:36|| 2009-02-27 10:36|| Front Page Top

#5 Actually OBL is working in Detroit in a 7-11.

Posted by JohnQC 2009-02-27 16:55|| 2009-02-27 16:55|| Front Page Top

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