Out of jail, Indonesian radical urges Islamic unity

Indonesia: Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir walked out of a Jakarta jail on Wednesday after serving time for links to the 2002 Bali bombings, calling on jubilant supporters to join forces for the spread of Islamic law.

Australia's foreign minister voiced concern about the release of a man who believes in "jihadist principles" and a U.S. embassy spokesman said his sentence had been light considering the crime.

Wearing his trademark white skullcap and red-and-white checked shawl as he emerged from prison, a smiling Bashir said: "Let us strengthen Islamic brotherhood. We strengthen our unity for one aim - that is Islamic sharia (law)".

Indonesia and other nations that "have been in darkness" could be saved by adherence to Islamist precepts, he said.

Bashir was surrounded by supporters shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and media before bodyguards managed to get him through the crowd to a black van for a long drive to his Islamic school, once dubbed the "Ivy League" of militants.

Seen by the West as the spiritual head of the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah (JI) regional militant network, Bashir was convicted of being part of a conspiracy behind the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, many of them Australian tourists.

Southeast Asian and Western authorities blame the group for the Indonesian resort island attack and other strikes.

Hundreds waited outside the jail to welcome him.

In Australia, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he remained worried about Bashir's activities. "I have some concerns about his advocacy. There's no question of that. This is somebody who believes in the jihadist principles."

However, he said the U.N. Security Council had listed Bashir as a terrorist and that imposed obligations on Jakarta, including freezing his financial assets, banning him from international travel and prohibiting him from obtaining weapons of any kind.

U.S. embassy spokesman Max Kwak said: "When Bashir was sentenced in March of last year, we were deeply disappointed that a person convicted of a 'sinister conspiracy' was given such a short prison sentence". Jakarta, Wednesday, Reuters