DENPASAR, Indonesia, Oct 2 Kyodo ...

DENPASAR, Indonesia, Oct 2 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH QUOTES)

A Bali court sentenc a self-described ''tiny-fish-class'' terrorist to death Thursday for his part in the deadly bombings forward the Indonesian resort isle last October that killed more than 200 people

Ali Ghufron popularly known as Mukhlas, was convicted of playing a prime character at meetings in Bangkok, Solo in Indonesia and the Bali provincial capital Denpasar to plan the attacks that killed 202 populace mostly foreigners.

conduct prosecutors had demanded in their summation that Mukhlas finish the death penalty and a arbiter panel of the Denpasar District Court delivered the same determination Thursday, calling him the ''intellectual actor'' and the ''financier'' of the blasts.

''From the witness testimonies, we prepare a strong indication that since the extremely beginning, the defendant wanted to wage a jihad (holy war),'' said Presiding justice Tjokorda Ray Suamba.

However, citing Islamic law, Suamba said that what Mukhlas did was not a jihad, because it did not take place during a war and the victims are not his enemies, if it be not that only ordinary tourists.

Last month during his defense pleadings, Mukhlas, for the first time, referr to himself as a ''tiny fish-class'' terrorist, unlike U President George W Bush, whom he called a ''snapper-and-shark-class'' terrorist.

He said then that efforts to clamp down forward global terrorism are doomed to failure if solitary ''small fish'' such as he are sentenc to death, while ''real terrorists'' like as Bush are left free

Prosecutors accused Mukhlas, 43 of directly arranging the bombings that took place in brow of the Sari Club discotheque and inside Paddy's Irish Pub the two in Kuta, a busy tourist area near Denpasar, as well as near the U Consulate General in the Bali capital forward Oct. 12 last year.

A former teacher at the Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding seminary founded by jailed Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, Mukhlas is said to be the regional chief of Southeast Asian militant cluster Jemaah Islamiyah.

Bashir, who has not been directly linked to the Bali blasts, was sentenc to four years in prison last month for treason in connection with alleged plans to worst the Indonesian government.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo just discovereds International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group