Muhammad Rais is an Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n convicted in May 2004 for involvement in the August 5 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing

2003 Marriott Hotel bombing

The 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing occurred on 5 August 2003 in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia. A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the lobby of the JW Marriott Hotel, killing twelve people and injuring 150. All those killed were Indonesian with the exception of one Dutch...

, which killed 12 people and wounded over 150. He is a member of Jemaah Islamiah and the brother-in-law of Noordin Mohammed Top

Noordin Mohammed Top

Noordin Mohammad Top , of Malaysian citizenship, was a Muslim extremist, also referred to as Din Moch Top, Muh Top, or Mat Top, was Indonesia's most wanted Islamist militant....

. He attended the Al-Mukmin Islamic school

Al-Mukmin Islamic school

The Al-Mukmin Islamic boarding school also known as Pesantren Al-Mukmin and Pondok Ngruki, is a pesantren located in Ngruki, a suburb in the city of Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. It was founded 1972 by the alleged 'spiritual head' of Jemaah Islamiah, Abu Bakar Bashir, and by Abdullah Sungkar...

 which was founded by Abu Bakar Bashir

Abu Bakar Bashir

Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir Abu Bakar Bashir (also Abubakar Ba'asyir, Abdus Somad, and Ustad Abu ("Teacher Abu"), born 17 August 1938, is an Indonesian Muslim cleric and leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council (MMI)....

, and while training in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 was responsible for relaying messages between Bashir and Osama Bin Laden

Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...

.

Rais transported the explosives used in the blast from various towns in Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

 to the Indonesian Capital Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

 on the island of Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

, where they were used in the bomb. He was responsible for recruiting the suicide bomber, and he drafted his best friend from his Islamic boarding school in Ngruki, Asmar Latin Sani

Asmar Latin Sani

Asmar Latin Sani, from West Sumatra, was the suicide bomber who detonated the car bomb in the August 5 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing. His severed head was later found on the fifth floor of the building....

. Rais was arrested in the month before the bombing.

He was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role. During his trial, Rais said "We saw the Marriott attack as a message from Osama bin Laden."

External links

• "Marriott blast suspects named", CNN
• "Marriott Hotel in Jakarta reopens", Xinhua
• "Terrorism in Indonesia: Noordins Networks", International Crisis Group
  International Crisis Group
  The International Crisis Group is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts around the world through field-based analyses and high-level advocacy.-History:...
  
  
• "Combating JI in Indonesia" Ng Boon Yian
• Jemaah Islamiyah Shown to Have Significant Ties to al Qaeda
• Learning by Doing:Al Qaeda's Allies in Southeast Asia
• Terrorism Perpetrated and Terrorists Apprehended