Last year’s Bali bombings were planned in Thailand and possibly financed in Malaysia after a call for terror strikes from Osama bin Laden, a court heard on Thursday. The written testimony by Wan Win Wan Mat, an alleged member of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah militant group who is currently imprisoned in Malaysia, highlighted the network’s international reach. Meanwhile, prosecutors formally charged 13 others detained over the Bali bombings with violating new anti-terror laws — bringing them a step closer to trial. Reading from Wan Min’s statement, prosecutors said Jemaah Islamiah held a meeting of regional leaders in Bangkok in February 2002, at which a plan for the Bali bombings was drawn up. The testimony was delivered in the trial of Imam Samudra, who is accused of masterminding the Oct 12 blasts that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. During the Bangkok meeting, unspecified plans for terror strikes in Singapore also were outlined, Wan Min said. Jemaah Islamiah has been accused of planning to bomb the United States embassy and other Western targets in Singapore. Full Story
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