Jailed firebrand cleric challenges his conviction

A jailed Indonesian firebrand cleric on Tuesday challenged his conviction for funding a militant group in court, as a hundreds-strong crowd chanting "God is great" rallied in support of the Islamist preacher.

Abu Bakar Bashir is regarded as the spiritual leader of militant Islam in Indonesia, and was thought to be a key figure in regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.

He was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2011 for helping fund a paramilitary group in Aceh, a staunchly Islamic province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, which planned to kill the then president as well as Westerners.