Bali bombing suspect denies Al Qaida link

Washington: An Indonesian suspected of being a leader in the terror group blamed for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings is denying any connection with the group's supposed affiliate, the Al Qaida.

Riduan Isamuddin, whose nom de guerre is Hambali, also told a military hearing at the Guantanamo Bay US naval base that he had no knowledge of other terrorist plots he is accused of orchestrating as the alleged operations chief of the Jemaah Islamiyah, the terror group considered responsible for the October 12, 2002 bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali that killed 202.

Isamuddin appeared before a Combatant Status Review Tribunal, an administrative hearing, at Guantanamo Bay on April 4, as one of 14 "high value" detainees transferred there last September after being held at secret CIA prisons abroad.

The public and reporters are not permitted access to the hearings; a US government transcript of the unclassified portion of Isamuddin's hearing was released by the Defence Department on Thursday.

The Pentagon also released the transcript of a closed hearing for Ali Al Azia Ali, also known as Ammar Al Baluchi, who is accused by US authorities of helping arrange financing for at least one of the September 11 hijackers.

Family ties

Ali said he was an ordinary businessman with family ties to alleged terrorist Khalid Shaikh Mohammad but was not part of Al Qaida or any such outfit.

In statements at his administrative hearing, Ali also asserted that during his nearly four years in US custody he gave US officials "vital information" to help foil terror plots. He is another of the 14 "high value" terror suspects at Guantanamo.