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Witnesses say Bali suspect asked them to be suicide bombers
Three witnesses said Wednesday that alleged Bali bombing mastermind Imam Samudra had asked them if they were willing to become suicide bombers.
"Hey, you guys! I gotta great idea! How 'bout if you become suicide bombers?"
"Yeah. We gotta great idea, too. How 'bout if you go have sex with yourself?" |
They were testifying in the trial of Samudra, 33, who is accused of plotting the terror bombing of two Bali nightspots last October. Two of the witnesses said they had only discussed with Samudra plans to help Muslims in the religiously divided Ambon and Poso regions and had no knowledge about any plans to stage bombings in Bali. "I was hesitant. Shahid (martyrdom) bombing? In Indonesia?" asked Abdul Rauf.
| "Me? Flying bits of meat? I dun' think' so..." |
Another witness, Junaedi, alias Amin, testified that Samudra once asked him: "Are you ready to carry a martyr's bomb?" Junaedi, an accomplice in a robbery to help fund the bombings, said he did not reply.
"Ummm... Nope. How 'bout you?"
"Me, neither." |
Police accused regional terror group the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which is believed linked to al-Qaeda, of staging the bombing of nightspots crowded with Western holidaymakers to avenge perceived injustices against Muslims worldwide. Rauf is on trial for robbing a jewellery shop in Banten to fund the Bali bombings. Like Samudra, he has been described as a computer expert. One of Rauf's accomplices in the robbery, Andri Oktavia, said he was "doubtful" about the possibility of staging a suicide attack. "It was only Iqbal who expressed readiness," Oktavia told judges.
| What the hell kind of Indon name is "Andri Oktavia"? |
Prosecutors say Iqbal detonated an explosives-stuffed vest he was wearing inside Paddy's Bar. Seconds later a man called Arnasan detonated a huge van bomb outside the nearby Sari Club. Arnasan died but it was unclear if he intended to be a suicide bomber.
| "Hokay. What was the routine? Red to... [BOOM!]" |
The disclosure that at least one suicide bomber was involved in the Bali attack heightened concern among security forces in Southeast Asia, where such tactics were previously unknown.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-07-02 |
