Indonesia on Friday defended its record on fighting terrorism after the United States and Australia criticized as too lenient the 2 1/2-year sentence given to the alleged spiritual leader of an al-Qaida-linked terror group. Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natelagawa said the independence of the court that tried Abu Bakar Bashir should be respected, while noting that more than 30 other militants have been sentenced for the bloodiest attack blamed on the group, the 2002 bombings at a Bali nightclub that killed 202 people. Three have been sentenced to death. Natelagawa also pointed to Washington’s refusal to give Indonesian officials access to a top Southeast Asian terror suspect in U.S. custody, Riduan Hisamuddin, also known as Hambali, and wondered whether access to him could have strengthened the case against Bashir. Full Story