Islamic cleric: Israel enemy of Allah

Indonesia should send fighters to support Palestinians against Israel, militant Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir said on Monday.

Bashir, released last month after finishing a jail term for links to deadly bombings in Bali, was responding to a reporter's question about Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip tied to the seizure of an Israeli soldier by terrorists.

"Since the old days, Israel has been attacking Palestine. Therefore Israel must be battled," said Bashir.

"Our government (should) dispatch its fighters there," he also said.

Indonesian and Western intelligence officials say Bashir was the spiritual leader of al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiah.

Bashir spoke to reporters before a speech to 200 supporters of the Muslim-oriented Star and Crescent political party (PBB), in which he urged Indonesia, officially secular despite a population that is 85 per cent Muslim, to adopt Islamic law.

'US happy to see bombings in Indonesia'

The PBB is part of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's parliamentary coalition and represented in his government.

Bashir, 67, left a Jakarta jail on June 14 after serving time over the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 202 people, including 88 Australians.

The white-bearded and bespectacled Bashir has consistently denied any connection to that or other attacks blamed on Jemaah Islamiah, which he has said does not exist, and is still appealing his conviction.

In his talk, he said the United States was happy to see bombings in Indonesia - the world's most populous Muslim country - because such actions give Washington an excuse to interfere.