Terrorist group's leader sentenced

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The accused leader of an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group was sentenced to 30 months in jail by an Indonesian court today for conspiracy charges related to the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing that killed 202 people, including seven Americans.

Abu Bakar Bashir was cleared of more serious charges that he ordered the bombing, which was aimed at foreign tourists and killed 88 Australians. He was also cleared of charges related to the 2003 bombing of the J. W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta that killed 12 and charges he incited his followers to launch terrorist attacks.

''Neither the defense witnesses nor the prosecutors' witnesses said that the defendant has planned or provoked other people to commit the bombings," the court said in its verdict.

''The perpetrators of the Marriott bombings admitted they did that on their own will," it said. ''Therefore the defendant has to be acquitted from primary charges."

The US Embassy in Jakarta expressed disappointment at the length of Bashir's sentence, Reuters reported.

''We respect the independence and judgment of the Indonesian courts, but given the gravity of the charges on which he was convicted, we're disappointed at the length of the sentence," Reuters quoted Max Kwak, the US Embassy spokesman, as saying. The five-judge panel said that Bashir, who has been in jail since April, would get credit for time served and could be freed before the end of 2006.

In a sign of the weakness of their case, prosecutors were demanding only an eight-year sentence. Bashir, 66, could have faced a maximum penalty of death.

The judges also said there was no evidence nor witnesses that proved Bashir took part in an ''evil conspiracy" to bomb the hotel. Bashir was in jail at the time of the attack.

Most analysts had predicted that Bashir would either walk free or receive a prison term far short of the maximum allowed, partly because of the prosecution's weak case. Whatever the case's outcome, they said, Bashir was in a position to see his credentials boosted as a fundamentalist Muslim icon.

A dozen heavily armed officers had escorted Bashir into the courtroom, where he smiled and told reporters that President Bush was ''evil." About 1,000 policemen secured the building; 100 of Bashir's supporters attended the proceedings.

''I'm ready to listen," Bashir said before the judges opened the proceedings. ''If I'm released, the trial has been fair. If not, this has not been a fair trial. I will fight any sentence against me."