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| Southeast Asia |
| Guns link to Bali bombing suspect |
| 2003-07-08 |
| Four men on trial for committing an armed robbery in west Java last year yesterday testified that Imam Samudra gave them three firearms to carry out the raid. The proceeds of the August robbery were later handed to Samudra to fund jihad, or holy war operations against infidels or enemies of Islam, the men told Denpasar District Court, where Samudra is facing the death penalty for his involvement in the Bali bombings. The four, all in their early 20s, said they met Samudra in Bandung, west Java, and decided to commit an armed robbery to fund jihad. At that meeting, Samudra asked the men: "Are you ready for jihad in Poso and Ambon?" "Yar, we be jihadi's!" After replying that they were, Samudra asked: "Are you ready for bomb syahid (suicide bomb)?" "Hell no! Are you nuts?" A fifth man, Iqbal, said he was. Iqbal died in the blast outside the Sari Club. The men later met Samudra in Solo where he handed them three firearms. During the robbery, on the jewellery store in Serang, a shot was fired and a woman injured. The men handed over the proceeds to Samudra in Jakarta. Believing the booty was to be used for funding jihad in Ambon or Poso, in nearby north Sulawesi, the men were surprised when they were given tickets by Samudra to travel to Bali. One man, Abdul Rauf, testified that he was taken around Kuta by Idris and carried out surveillance in Jalan Legian. Three times Idris, who was the alleged logistics and operations chief under Samudra, pointed out the Sari Club and Paddy's Irish pub, which were later destroyed in the October 12 bombings. In the trial of Mukhlas, the alleged head of the Bali bombing, several witnesses demanded Chief Judge Cok Suamba deliver the heaviest sentence possible. I Nyoman Kert Jaya, whose brother-in-law was killed in the blasts, said severe punishment was required "because many people have been killed". Gusti Ketut Nurdiada, the operations manager of Paddy's pub, who suffered severe back injuries, asked for the death penalty. "Based on what this criminal has done, he must be given the death penalty because I lost my job," Mr Nurdiada said. "My children cannot continue in elementary school and I am an orphan. "Just kill him sir." OK |
| Posted by:Steve |