JAKARTA - An Indonesian publisher and Islamist blogger known as the "Prince of Jihad" was sentenced to five years in jail Tuesday for abetting suicide attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta last year.

Women robed from head-to-toe in black Islamic dress shouted abuse at the judges as the sentence -- lighter than the seven years sought by prosecutors -- was handed down in the South Jakarta district court.

Mohammed Jibril Abdurahman, publisher of extremist literature and a militant blog, was arrested at his Ar-Rahmah media company weeks after the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel bombings that killed seven people on July 17, 2009.

Jibril, the son of a radical cleric, was convicted of concealing information about terrorist crimes and falsifying documents, and could have faced a maximum 15-year sentence.

"He was proven guilty of providing assistance and facilities and concealing information about terrorist crimes," chief judge Haryanto said.

He said the accused was polite in court and therefore deserved a lighter sentence than the one sought by prosecutors.

The bombings ended a four-year hiatus in attacks attributed to Malaysian terror leader Noordin Mohammed Top, who was killed by police in September.

BDST:1350 HRS, June 29, 2010

DC