Jakarta, Indonesia ? A Muslim cleric accused of heading the terror group blamed for the Bali bombings proclaimed his innocence as his trial opened Thursday, and said the charges were the work of President Bush and “his slave”: Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Abu Bakar Bashir is charged with heading the al-Qaida-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah and with involvement in two attacks: the Bali nightclub bombings and a suicide blast last year at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.

The United States and Australia also accuse the 66-year-old cleric of being a key Southeast Asian terror leader.

“I am innocent. The charges are baseless,” a relaxed-looking Bashir said before the trial began. “Everybody knows, even schoolchildren, that there is pressure (for a trial) from George Bush and his slave John Howard.”

“All those people who do not agree with the interests of George Bush are called terrorists,” Bashir said.

The trial is expected to last five months and is considered an early test of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s resolve to fight terrorism. Even though the country has arrested scores of militants, some critics still see Indonesia as a weak link in the war on terror.

It was the second time Bashir has faced terror charges in two years. He was acquitted last year of heading Jemaah Islamiyah.

Militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, center, arrives for his trial in Jakarta, Indonesia. Bashir, who is accused of heading the al-Qaida-linked terror group behind the 2002 Bali bombings, went on trial Thursday.

Prosecutors say they now have new evidence and new witnesses, but the indictment read Thursday failed to directly link Bashir to the ringleaders of the Bali or Marriott attacks.

Before the Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, Bashir was chiefly known for his campaign to replace Indonesia’s secular government with one based on Islam, and his criticism of U.S. policies toward Muslim countries.