Militant gets 12 years for bombing Jakarta church

An Indonesian court sentenced a Muslim militant from Malaysia to 12 years in jail on Thursday for planting a bomb in a Jakarta church that killed one person and wounded more than 60 during a Mass three years ago.

Presiding judge Zainal Abidin Sangaji said Nur Misuari left a bomb in a plastic bag at the back row of the Santa Anna church after listening to the sermon on July 22, 2001.

"It has been proven that the defendant transported, possessed and used explosives," said Sangaji at the East Jakarta court.

Authorities have said Imam Samudra, the convicted mastermind of the Bali nightclub bombings in October 2002, was also involved in the Santa Anna bombing.

Samudra is on death row over the Bali attacks.

Jemaah Islamiah, a militant network with links to al Qaeda, is blamed for the Bali blasts that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

On Christmas Eve 2000, assailants bombed a number of churches across Indonesia, killing 19 people. The authorities have blamed militants connected to Jemaah Islamiah.