Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin believed to be a key member of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah, Jakarta, Indonesia, 28 April 2009

An Indonesian court has sentenced a Singaporean man to 18 years in prison under the country's anti-terrorism law.  The court also sentenced two Indonesian men to 10 and 12 years on similar charges.  

When the Jakarta court read out Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin's sentence, he yelled out "Allahu akbar" - "God is great."

The militant Islamist was convicted, among other crimes, of orchestrating the 2007 murder of a teacher and plotting to bomb a café in Sumatra that was frequented by foreigners.

Hasan, who has several aliases, was linked to the militant group Jemaah Islamiyah and claims to have met Osama bin Laden while training in Afghanistan.

A judge at the trial said the defiant extremist admitted some of his crimes, but never showed remorse for what he did.  Nonetheless, Hasan defended himself to the media.

"I do not think it is fair,"Hasan said.  "I should be given a medal.  A medal of recognition, not being in prison, so I will never accept this."

The court sentenced two Indonesian men for collaborating with Hasan.

A total of nine men were arrested with Hasan last year in South Sumatra after police discovered a cache of homemade bombs.  A judge said the men had damaged Indonesia's image.

The Southeast Asian nation has the world's largest Muslim population and has been battling religious extremists with some success.

Indonesia has not had a major terrorist incident in several years.

The most recent was the 2005 suicide bombings in the resort of Bali that killed 20 people and injured more than 100, most of them Indonesians.