Four foreigners thought to be Uygurs to face terrorism charges in Jakarta

Four foreign suspected militants, who carry Turkish passports but are thought to be members of China's ethnic Uygur minority, are among seven suspects who would go on trial in Indonesia within a month, their lawyers said yesterday.

Ashludin Hatjani, one of the lawyers, said the dossiers of his clients - the four "Turkish" and three Indonesians - have been completed and the police had handed the documents over to the North Jakarta Prosecutors' Office.

The seven have been charged under an article of the 2003 Antiterrorism Law for "having an intention to join" the Mujahidin Indonesia Timur group led by Santoso, who has been linked in the past to Jemaah Islamiah, a militant group regarded as the Southeast Asian wing of the al-Qaeda terror group.

Santoso is one of the most-wanted terrorist suspects in the country. Two years ago, he called for a "holy war" against Indonesian counterterrorism police.

The suspected militants were arrested in September last year while on their way to the town of Poso in Central Sulawesi province, the alleged stronghold of Santoso's group.

"Our clients allegedly provided assistance to the Santoso group in the form of money or goods," Ashludin said.