An Indonesian who set up a militant Web site on behalf of the alleged mastermind of last year's deadly bombings in Bali was jailed for eight years on Tuesday.

The sentence is the first linked to the Oct 1, 2005 bombings, in which three suicide bombers blew themselves up killing 20 people at three restaurants on the resort island's beaches of Jimbaran and Kuta.

Judges from the Denpasar district court found Abdul Aziz broke anti-terrorism laws by setting up a now shutdown militant Web site, www.anshar.net, which contained diagrams of several locations and explained why they would be ideal for attacking people and how to escape after the attacks.

Aziz was also guilty of helping Southeast Asia's most wanted terror fugitive, Noordin Top, disseminate through the Internet a fiery speech calling on Muslims to wage war against the United States and its allies.

The panel of judges believe the defendant knew of the involvement (of Top) in the incidents at Jimbaran and Kuta and he had received the special task of making a site that publicized the actions and claims of the October 1 Bali bombings, said Edy Siregar, a member of three-judge panel.

The judges said the sentence reflected mitigating factors after Aziz expressed regret for his actions. The maximum punishment for terrorism crimes is death.

A case against three other Islamic militants linked to the Bali bombings is still going on, including one alleged to have helped assemble the bombs that were carried in back packs.

Police say Top and Azahari Husin, both Malaysian nationals, were leading figures in the al Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian network Jemaah Islamiah, blamed for terror attacks in the region including other bombings in Bali in 2002 which killed 202 people.

Azahari, who often traveled with Top, was killed last year during a shoot out in the East Java town of Malang.

Aside from the 2002 and 2005 Bali blasts, Jemaah Islamiah, Top and Azahari have been linked to bombings at a luxury hotel in Jakarta in 2003 and outside the Australian embassy in the capital in 2004, among others.

Police and intelligence officials say Jemaah Islamiah has become decentralized with some factions splitting off and operating independently.

Officials say that despite the capture of around 300 people suspected of violating anti-terrorism laws, violent militants remain a serious threat in Indonesia, a vast archipelago with 17,000 islands and 220 million people.

An estimated 85 percent of Indonesians are Muslims. Most are moderates but there has been an increasingly vocal militant minority in recent years.

Terrorism