Trial of two Bali bomb suspects gets underway

Two Muslim militants have gone on trial for allegedly helping to plan the Bali bombings and prepare explosives used in the attack…

Two Muslim militants have gone on trial for allegedly helping to plan the Bali bombings and prepare explosives used in the attack.

Prosecutors told Denpasar District Court that Syawad, alias Sarjio, and Abdul Ghoni attended meetings in which militants picked two busy nightclubs on the island to "carry out the attacks on America and its allies".

Reading from the indictment, prosecutors said Syawad helped Malaysian Dr Azhari bin Husin and Dulmatin - two key defendants still at large - mix the chemicals chlorate, sulphur, RDX and TNT that were later used in the bombs.

In a separate trial, prosecutors accused Ghoni of working with Syawad to assemble the two bombs and loading them into a van which was then parked in front of the Sari Club - one of the two nightclubs destroyed.

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The defendants remained silent during their trials. If convicted, they each face death under the country's new anti-terror laws. The trial was adjourned until next week when the defence will present its plea.

Indonesian authorities have arrested 35 people in connection with the Bali bombings. They have convicted 29 people, handing out sentences ranging from three years to death.

The al-Qaeda-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for the Bali attack, which killed 202 people, as well as the August bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, which killed 12 people.