Indonesian Militant Sentenced to 4 Years Over Attack Church

By The Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - An Islamic militant was sentenced to four years in jail on Thursday for storing the explosives used in a botched 2001 bomb attack on a church in Indonesia.

The blast went off in the lobby of a shopping mall in central Jakarta, wounding several people, but the intended target was a church located on the upper floor of the building, prosecutors have said.

Solahudin, who was identified by a single name, was found guilty of storing the explosives used in the blast and sentenced to four years, Presiding Judge Lies Sofiulah told the Central Jakarta District Court.

His lawyers said they were considering appealing the verdict.

Solahudin, 30 was arrested in April during a raid on a suspected hide out of Noordin Top, an alleged Southeast Asian militant accused of organizing a host of attacks on western targets in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.

A Malaysian militant has already been sentenced to death and two Indonesians have been given life imprisonment for carrying out the attack targeting the church at the mall. Testimony at their trial said the blast was intended as revenge for the deaths of Muslims in religious fighting in eastern Indonesia.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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