Jakarta – One of Indonesia's top Islamic militant leaders went on trial on Wednesday on charges of keeping explosives and sheltering fugitives wanted for a series of deadly attacks in the country.

Abu Dujana, self-confessed military leader of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) regional militant group, faces the death penalty if found guilty under anti-terrorism laws.

Prosecutors said Dujana had authorized in 2006 the shipment of two caches of explosives intended for attacks against Christians in Poso, a region of Central Sulawesi province torn by inter-religious fighting between 1999 and 2001.

The indictment also alleged Dujana had harbored and assisted Noordin Top and Azahari Husin, two Malaysians wanted for several deadly attacks in Indonesia in recent years, including the 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people were killed.

Azahari was killed in a police raid two years ago while Noordin is still on the run.

Dujana, wearing a white shirt and traditional black cap at the court hearing at the South Jakarta district court, said he had been a victim of injustice. "It was said I sent explosives. The truth is I did not," he told reporters, adding that he did not agree with Noordin's violent ways.

He said the gun he carried was simply for self-defense training. "Self defense is an obligation for Muslims. There was no intention to use arms for terrorism," he said.

Under Indonesian law a defendant need not enter a plea at the start of a trial.

Police arrested Dujana, 38, in a Central Java town in June and at the time described him as their most wanted man.

Dujana said in a video shown by police after his arrest that he had undergone rebel military training in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and in Afghanistan.

JI, believed to aspire to create an Islamic state linking Muslim communities in Southeast Asia, has in the past been linked to al Qaeda. It was blamed for a string of attacks that killed hundreds of civilians, including the bombings of the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004 and the Marriott Hotel in the capital in 2003.

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country, with about 85 percent of its more than 220 million population following Islam. While the vast majority of Indonesia's Muslims are moderate, the country has seen the emergence of an increasingly vocal militant minority.

Although there has been no major bomb attack since 2005, police say Indonesia still faces a considerable threat from Islamic militants.

(Writing by Ahmad Pathoni; Editing by Ed Davies and Jerry Norton)