A Jakarta court will hand down its verdict today on radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who is accused of being the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the regional terrorist group blamed for the Bali bombings, last month's Jakarta hotel bombing and a string of bomb attacks against Christians.
Security experts warn the verdict could prompt another bombing attack like that on the JWMarriott hotel in Jakarta, which killed more than a dozen people. The blast came two days before the courts handed down the death penalty on Amrozi, the first of the Bali bombing suspects to go on trial.
'We have warned everyone in Jakarta to be on high alert,' said one western security expert.
He said with Bashir's trial this week and another court due to deliver a verdict on alleged Bali bomb mastermind Imam Samudra, next week, it would be a prime opportunity for JI members to launch another attack.
A report released last week by international think-tank the International Crisis Group (ICG) warned JI was still a dangerous group, with an extensive network capable of launching attacks.
Several key JI figures, including the man who designed the devastating Bali bombs, are still on the loose, and a load of explosives and detonators sent to Jakarta several weeks ago still have not been found, police have said.
Bashir has not been charged over the Bali bombings. But he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years if he is found guilty of plotting to overthrow the Indonesian government, approving a string of bombing attacks against Christians including church bomb attacks which killed 19 people, and of planning the assassination of then vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri.
