Muslim Militant Freed Pending His Trial
A Muslim militant leader who has acknowledged meeting Osama bin Laden was released from custody to await trial next Thursday on charges of inciting religious violence in Indonesia, police said.
Jafar Umar Thalib, head of the paramilitary group Laskar Jihad, was jailed May 4 in Jakarta, the capital, shortly after returning from the Molucca Islands, where up to 9,000 people have been killed in Christian-Muslim fighting.
Police accuse Thalib of inciting violence in the province by encouraging his followers to ignore a February peace deal with Christians.
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