Indonesia sends three to jail on terrorism charges

JAKARTA, May 1 (Reuters) An Indonesian court today sentenced three militants to jail terms for stashing arms used for terrorist attacks and sheltering Southeast Asia's most wanted man.

Abdullah Sunata, 27 was found guilty of illegally possessing arms for terrorism acts and was sentenced to seven years in jail.

''Abdullah Sunata has been convincingly found guilty of hiding and stashing arms for terrorist acts ... and sentenced to seven years in jail,'' said Presiding Judge Sulthoni at the South Jakarta District court.

Sunata has denied any wrongdoing and immediately appealed.

In a separate trial, the court also sentenced Joni Ahmad Fauzani, 30, to four years in jail for sheltering Malaysian-born Noordin M Top at his house in the town of Mojokerto in East Java province.

Top is wanted for several major bomb attacks on Western targets in Indonesia. Police say he is a leading figure in the al Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian network, Jemaah Islamiah.

The court sentenced Joko Sumanto, 40, to four years in jail for giving money to Umar Patek, wanted in the 2002 bombings in Bali who remains at large.

Neither Fauzani nor Sumanto appealed right away, but still have a week to do so.

Last Saturday, Indonesian police killed two militant suspects at Top's suspected hideout in the Central Java town of Wonosobo, but failed to capture him.

Last year, police killed another leading Jemaah Islamiah figure, Azahari, who often traveled with Top, according to intelligence officials.

Jemaah Islamiah is blamed for the October 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, as well as bombings at a luxury hotel in Jakarta in 2003, outside the Australian embassy in the capital in 2004, and at restaurants in Bali last year.

REUTERS SB BST1833