JAKARTA, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Umar Patek, 44, one of Indonesia's most wanted terrorists accused in the 2002 Bali bombings, appeared Monday in court in Jakarta to face numerous charges.
Patek, believed to a member of a group linked to al-Qaida, was arrested last year in Abbottabad, Pakistan, prior to the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in the same town. Patek was later extradited to Indonesia.
The man is accused of assembling the devices used in the Bali attack that killed 202 people, including foreign tourists, and faces various charges, including premeditated murder, bomb-making and illegal firearms possession, CNN reported.
Patek also faces charges in church bombings in Jakarta in 2000.
Patek, who was handcuffed, smiled as he was brought to the court in an armored vehicle, CNN reported. After the charges were read, Patek's lawyers asked for another week to respond to them.
Indonesian authorities say Patek has admitted to assembling explosives in the Bali attacks.
Indonesian terrorism expert Noor Huda Ismail told CNN Patek is "a gold mine of information" for security officials in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as Indonesia.
"He has valuable information about the extent of the network, who are the people moving from one place to another and how they're doing it," Ismail said.
He said Patek may also provide clues to the ties between the region's militants and al-Qaida.
"It may be no coincidence that Patek was found in the same village where bin Laden was living," Ismail said.
Authorities say Patek trained and fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the early 1990s, and he and others like him were deeply influenced by bin Laden.
Three others involved in the Bali bombings -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron -- were executed in 2008.
The Jakarta Post reported Patek will be tried by a panel of judges headed by Lexsy Mamonto. The report said security remained tight during Monday's proceedings.
The newspaper said Patek's role in numerous terror plots was first revealed by fellow terrorists during their testimony.
