Saudi Arabian goes on trial for hotel bombings in Indonesia

JAKARTA - A Saudi Arabian citizen went on trial Wednesday for his alleged role in financing the bombings of JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta last year.

Prosecutors charged Al Khelaiw Ali Abdullah, 55, with violating Indonesia’s anti-terrorism laws for giving money used to fund the July 17, 2009 attacks that killed nine people, including two suicide bombers, and injured more than 50 others.

He could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted. He is also charged with violating immigration laws.

Abdullah has denied the allegations.

“I am an old man who is in ill health. I came to Indonesia to rest,” detik.com online quoted Ali as saying. “I am a poor man.”

“I am not a terrorist. I love peace,” he said.

Prosecutors said in the indictment that the defendant had provided money to Saifuddin Zuhri, one of the alleged leaders of the hotel attacks. The prosecutors did not mention the amount of the alleged funding.

Zuhri was shot and killed in a police raid late last year.

Abdullah was arrested in West Java district of Kuningan in August.

On Tuesday, the trial of another alleged conspirator, Indonesian Muslim militant Mohammed Jibril Abdurahman, also began at the same court on a similar charge.

The court adjourned the hearing until next week to allow time for for Abdullah and his defence attorneys to consider their plea.