"ISLAM WILL WIN!"
Is Islam racist?
"Kill the Jews everywhere" (video) http://www.honestreporting.com/relentless/view_trailer.asp
"Burn, burn the Jews" http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=5451
Amrozi defiant before Bali blast verdict 07-08-2003
By Joanne Collins and Karima Anjani
BALI, Indonesia, (Reuters) - Praising God and denouncing Jews, Indonesian Muslim militant Amrozi faced his judges on Thursday as they delivered the first verdict in the Bali nightclub bombing trials.
The climax of Amrozi's trial came just two days after a car bomb killed at least 10 people at a luxury hotel in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, and coincided with concern that a shadowy Southeast Asian network linked to al Qaeda might be plotting further attacks.
Amrozi, dubbed the smiling bomber, faces death by firing squad if convicted on charges of helping to plot, organize and carry out crimes of terror in relation to the blasts that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, on October 12 last year.
"Burn, burn the Jews," a defiant-looking Amrozi shouted in Arabic as two police escorted him to a seat at the center of the court opposite a panel of five judges who began the lengthy process of summing up the evidence.
"Allahu akbar (God is Greatest)," the 40-year-old mechanic from neighboring Java island cried, punching the air with his fist. He wore a loose white Muslim shirt, a cream and green skull cap and dark trousers.
He showed scant interest in the proceedings, fidgeting and then smiling at the prosecutors as he left for the lunch break.
During the trial Amrozi admitted involvement in the attacks, saying "whites" deserved to die.
He has also said he would welcome the death penalty, but said he does not belong to the al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah Muslim network that police blame for the Bali bombings and are already linking to Tuesday's Jakarta blast at the JW Marriott Hotel.
Bali police chief Made Pastika said additional police had been deployed around the court to ensure tighter security.
"The situation in Jakarta also influences our security measures," Pastika told reporters.
About 400 police carrying wooden staves surrounded the court building. Roadblocks barricaded approach roads. One policeman, an M-16 rifle resting between his legs, dozed at the rear of the court.
VICTIMS WANT DEATH PENALTY
Those who say they are eager for retribution from the court range from waiters who survived the bombs that destroyed two popular clubs to Australians maimed in the attacks. Local entrepreneurs who have scraped to make a living since the attacks devastated the island's tourism industry say the same thing.
About half of the dead in Bali were Australians, killed as they enjoyed the island's famous nightlife. Several dozen Indonesians, including Balinese, also died.
"You must die, Amrozi," read a message posted on the green fence in front of a mound of earth that was once the Sari Club.
"Whether he rots away in jail for 60 years or they shoot him dead, as long as he gets his (punishment) I don't really mind," said Australian Jake Ryan, 22, who lost half of his left foot in the blast that destroyed the Sari Club. Five of his friends were killed, he said as he arrived at the court to hear the verdict.
Plenty is at stake for the world's most populous Muslim nation in the trials of 38 suspects arrested over Bali, especially in the wake of Tuesday's powerful car bomb attack.
Indonesia had won international praise for showing the world it could tackle the Bali bombings. The Marriott attack suggests it has plenty left to do.
Police have highlighted similarities between the two attacks, especially in the bomb composition. The Bali bombs were made mainly of TNT and potassium chlorate -- a fertilizer compound.
Two of Amrozi's brothers are also on trial for Bali.
But as the first suspect arrested, Amrozi has been a focal point of anger in Bali, a picture-postcard mix of golden beaches, emerald rice fields and gentle people.
Amrozi's giggling delight at the attacks, broadcast in a public police interrogation a month after the Bali blasts, shocked people across this Hindu island and around the world.
He also gained notoriety by laughing at Indonesian witnesses.
Australian Geoff Phillips said he wanted the maximum penalty. "He smiles and makes you very, very annoyed. Just the smile, the smirk, the arrogance. That's when you feel like you could put a gun to his head and blow him away. It just doesn't seem right."
Phillips's son, Brad, who lost seven friends, refused to comment.
Like other accused Bali bombers, Amrozi came under the sway of the teachings of Abu Bakar Bashir, alleged head of Jemaah Islamiah. Police have linked Bashir to the Bali blasts but not named him as a suspect. The cleric has denied any wrongdoing.
Amrozi's lawyer has said the only thing that could be proved against him was that he had sent chemical substances to Bali.
The defendant has told the court he brought a minivan from his home on Java island so it could be made into a massive car bomb.
Is Islam peaceful?
Bomb Rips Through Indonesia Hotel, Kills 14
Reuters Tuesday, August 5, 2003; 11:57 AM "Thirteen bodies have been evacuated to hospitals while the last one, a human head without body, was just found by a Red Cross team on the fifth floor of the hotel," a senior Red Cross official said.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/030805/137/26mah.html
REf3:Car bomb wrecks Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, kills 14
By Joanne Collins and Telly Nathalia
JAKARTA (Reuters) - A huge car bomb tore through one of the top hotels in Indonesia's capital on Tuesday, killing 14 people and wounding 150 in the second major attack to shake the world's most populous Muslim nation in a year.
Jakarta's governor said a suicide bomber had probably caused the blast at the JW Marriott Hotel, part of a U.S. hotel chain.
The bomb ripped out the lobby and set fire to dozens of cars and taxis. Many windows in the 33-storey hotel were blown out.
Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil called it "an act of terrorism". The government warned recently of more attacks by the Jemaah Islamiah network blamed for October's Bali bombing.
"It was panic. Mad panic," said Stephen Mellor, a foreign resident who was parking his car less than 100 metres from the hotel at the time of the blast.
"The police and paramedics did what they could, but they seemed overwhelmed. People were almost hijacking cars in desperation and piling the injured in them to take to hospital."
The blast was timed as workers poured out of offices for lunch and mosques called the faithful to prayer. It came just two days before the first verdict is due in the trials of Muslim militants accused in the Bali bombings that killed 202.
Diners were eating lunch in restaurants and cafes in the hotel and in a nearby office tower when the blast blew out windows and showered people with shards of glass.
Wreckage from the charred lobby was strewn over a wide area.
Police said a Dutch banking executive was among the dead, while four Singaporeans, two Americans, two Australians and a New Zealander were among those wounded.
BLOWN ACROSS ROOM
Australian tourist Simon Leuning had just arrived in Jakarta and was relaxing in his hotel room when the explosion occurred.
"The window blew in, blew me across the room," he told Reuters Television. "I got out of there as fast as I could."
The Indonesian Red Cross said 14 people died and 150 were wounded.
“Thirteen bodies have been evacuated to hospitals while the last one, a human head without a body, was just found by a Red Cross team on the fifth floor of the hotel," a senior Red Cross official said.
National Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar said the car bomb blew up near the lobby. He said the blast resembled the Bali bombings because of the use of a vehicle.
Tuesday's attack coincided with high-profile trials of suspected Islamic militants on bomb-related charges -- including that of Abu Bakar Bashir, an influential cleric.
He is accused of leading the Southeast Asian Jemaah Islamiah militant Muslim network blamed for a series of attacks on Western targets and which wants a regional Islamic state.
Bachtiar said one of the many areas of investigation would include several people who had yet to be arrested over the Bali attacks. He gave no names and did not say anyone was suspected.
The Marriott, popular with foreign businessmen, is in the wealthy suburb of Kuningan on a major road through the city's business district. The hotel is close to the diplomatic area of Menteng where many Western embassies and consulates are based.
Management said the hotel was 70-80 percent full.
AMERICANS WARNED
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said: "There is a strong possibility this was a suicide bomber."
Washington said last week that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network was planning new suicide hijackings and bombings in the United States and abroad. The U.S. embassy held its 4th of July independence celebrations at the Marriott Hotel.
The U.S. embassy said the blast was a reminder to Americans to exercise "rigorous" security precautions in Indonesia.
"Intelligence agencies have warned for months now of the possibility of attacks and the bulk of Jemaah Islamiah remains at large," said security expert Andrew Tan at Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies.
The explosion hit Indonesia's financial markets. The main stock index ended down three percent.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri visited the blast site on Tuesday evening but made no comments to reporters.
Last Friday she denounced what she called the "blind fanaticism" of Muslim militants accused of the Bali bombings.
The Marriott, which opened in September 2001 and has 333 rooms, is the latest luxury hotel in the bustling city that is home to more than 10 million people.
(Additional reporting by Harry Suhartono, Muklis Ali, Gde Anugrah Arka, Lily Kurniawati and Dan Eaton)
The human head turned out to be that of the suicide bomber.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1-771363,00.html
August 08, 2003 Severed head clue to Jakarta hotel attack
From Tim Johnston in Jakarta
An Indonesian investigator with a picture of a reconstructed head belonging to a possible suspect in the Marriott Hotel bombing
A severed head found at the scene of Jakarta’s deadly hotel bombing belonged to a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network, Indonesian police said today.
The human head was found in a wrecked room on the fifth floor of Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel after it was blown up last week by a suicide bomber.
The head has been identified as that of Asmal Latinsani, an affiliate of a regional terrorist group with links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group.
Mr Latinsani was identified after police released a picture of the badly injured head to the media.
They say that he was named by two self-confessed members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), who are already in custody, as a recent recruit to the organisation. The police say that Mr Latinsani's sister had also confirmed the identity.
Although police have been reluctant to name JI as the organisation behind the bombing, the identification, along with similarities between the modus operandi and construction of the bomb to other terrorist attacks by the group, would seem to put the connection beyond doubt.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri, making her first public comments since the hotel blast, said today that no single country can defeat terrorism on its own.
She urged a conference of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to evolve "into a full-fledged security community" to combat the growing threat.
Mr Latinsani was caught by a video camera driving a car onto the forecourt of the Marriott Hotel just as staff were preparing for a busy lunchtime on Tuesday. The video shows two security guards approaching the locally made Kijang car before it is engulfed in flame.
At least ten people died and 150 were injured as the blast ripped through the hotel's lobby and restaurant area. One Dutchman was among the dead, but most were security staff, or taxi drivers who were waiting for hotel guests.
A senior police officer has said that they were aware that Mr Latinsani might have planning an attack up to six weeks before it took place. Gorris Mere told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that they had intercepted an e-mail from Mr Latinsani saying that wanted "to get married".
"Marry is a...code word of the JI – I want to plant a bomb, a suicide bomb," Mr Mere told ABC.
Members of JI were behind last October's devastating attack on the island of Bali last October, and one of the group, a 41-year-old mechanic named Amrozi, was sentenced to death on Thursday for buying the explosives and minivan used in that attack.
The Marriott bombing also used a car bomb, and the police say that the construction of the bomb using chemical fertiliser is also similar to the Bali blast.
Other self-confessed members of the Bali plot say it was a declaration of war against western interests for their perceived maltreatment of Muslims worldwide.
The Marriott Hotel would fit their target profile. The hotel, which is part of an American-owned chain, had been used by the US Embassy to host their July 4 Independence Day celebrations, and the Australian Prime Minister John Howard stayed at the Marriott when he visited Indonesia earlier this year.
There has been a noticeable tightening of security in Jakarta in the wake of the Marriott bombing, but there does not seem to be the exodus of foreigners that many had predicted.
Armed police officers stood guard outside other international hotels, including the Mandarin Oriental and the Hyatt, and several prominent office buildings were restricting traffic access to their forecourts.
Several witnesses in the trial of the Bali bombers have said that a number of suicide bombers had been recruited by JI, but only two had lost their lives: Mr Latinsani and a man named Idris, who wore a jacket with explosives sewn into the lining into a bar in Bali minutes before the main carbomb exploded across the road outside the Sari Club, killing 202 people.
What Makes a Muslim Happy?
"...the alleged mastermind of the Kuta bombs, expressed his pleasure about the Marriott incident. "Thank God, I am thankful," he shouted at a co-defendant's trial. "I am happy, especially if the perpetrators were Muslim."
http://www.abcactionnews.com/stories/2003/08/030806bomb.shtml
The truth about Islam's "peacefulness" and "tolerance" towards other religions is clearly seen in the bombings and in the following quotes:
Is Islam tolerant of Christians?
02/07/2003 - 06:37:48 The alleged mastermind of last year’s Bali bombings cried out in court today that Islamic militants would win the “crusade against Christians”, in his first appearance after prosecutors urged a death sentence for one of his colleagues.
Lifting his fist in the air and struggling with his armed guards, Imam Samudra shouted: “We are ready to win the crusade against Christians! We will win!”
http://www.laksamana.net/vnews.cfm?ncat=45&news_id=5683
BALI, Indonesia, July 28 "Imam Samudra, center, one of the key suspects in the Bali bombings, raises his hands and shouts "God is great. Islam will win!" as he is escorted by police officers to go back to his detention house after his trial at a court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Monday." --- caption from the following photo:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/944943.asp?0bl=-0
Other interesting photos:
An Evil Smile
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/southeast/08/07/amrozi.profile/
President Megawati denounces the 'blind fanaticism' of Muslim militants
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030801/170/4us12.html
Pray for President Megawati as the Islamic terrorists have vowed to kill her.
The bombing of the Marriott in Jakarta was obviously aimed at Americans, but "All the victim's were taxi drivers, innocent Indonesian taxi drivers." No doubt most of them were Muslims. Muslims killed by Muslims.
'At Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM), Warsinah, in her 60s, bravely attempted to identify her nephew Harna, a 37-year-old Silver Bird taxi driver who was killed at the scene.
'She cried upon seeing the corpse but was not sure if it was really Harna. When her husband checked the ID card found in the man's clothes, she let out a wailing cry.
'"My poor boy! He had three kids ... Just kill them (the bombers)!! Kill them!!!" she shouted.'
Hopefully, the masses of Indonesia are waking up to the evil that is being promoted in the name of Allah.
HAMBALI CAPTURED!
http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3286265
ISLAM WILL WIN! It is TRUE!
Islam will win the contest for being the most hateful religion in history.
Islam will win the contest for being the most violent religion in history.
Islam will win the contest for being the most dishonest religion in history.
Islam will win the contest for being the most deceptive religion in history.
Islam will win the contest for being the most racist religion in history.
Islam will win the contest for being the most woman abusing religion in history.
Islam will win the contest for being the most unreasonable religion in history.
Islam will win the contest taking the most people to Hell.
BUT ISLAM WILL LOSE ITS LONG WAR AGAINST THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD. Islam has a long history of insane violence, springing from the hatred taught in the Quran. But Jesus is coming back soon; and when He arrives every knee shall bow before Him, for He is God the Son and the Son of God---Lord of all.
Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rev. 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
ONLY BELIEVERS IN CHRIST WILL WIN THE WAR AGAINST SATAN AND DEATH! Please pray for the President Megawati, for Indonesians, and for the Louis A. Turk family as they prepare to return to Indonesia. PRAY FOR SAFETY TO PREACH THE GOSPEL FREELY IN INDONESIA!
Ref 5:Warnings about Marriott blast not specific enough for prevention
an Associated Press report 8/06/03
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Police on Wednesday said they seized documents last month showing terrorists had planned to target the area around Jakarta's Marriott Hotel, where a powerful car bomb a day earlier killed as many as 14 people and injured nearly 150.
Security forces had increased patrols in the Marriott area in response to the seizure but the precautions weren't enough to prevent the suspected suicide attack, which underscored the continuing threat of terrorism in the world's largest Muslim nation.
"There was a warning that there were some targets and we have been anticipating an attack," said Jakarta police spokesman Prasetyo, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.
He said that the documents were seized in the central Java town of Semarang last month, when police arrested seven alleged members of Jemaah Islamiyah.
Officials also said they were investigating two men who allegedly purchased the vehicle used in the bombing, and planned to issue a composite sketch of one of the men later Wednesday.
Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for the Bali blasts, allegedly claimed responsibility for the hotel bombing in remarks published by Singapore's Straits Times newspaper.
"This is a message for ... all our enemies that, if they execute any of our Muslim brothers, we will continue this campaign of terror in Indonesia and the region," the paper quoted an unnamed Jemaah Islamiyah operative as saying.
It couldn't be immediately determined if the claim was authentic.
Derwin Pereira, the Straits Times correspondent in Jakarta, told The Associated Press that two weeks ago he received a call from a "well-placed informant" saying there would be a major strike in Indonesia this month.
Pereira said the informant said he got the information from a Jemaah Islamiyah operative whom he refused to name. After the Marriott blast, Pereira said he pressed the informant to link him up with the source.
The informant, Pereira said, relented by getting the operative to call Pereira at his Jakarta office, some four hours after the attack at the Marriott.
Pereira said the alleged operative refused to identify himself but said the explosion was a "bloody warning" from Jemaah Islamiyah to President Megawati Sukarnoputri, demanding that she not crack down on the group's members in Indonesia.
The blast came two days before a verdict in the trial of a key suspect in the Bali nightclub bombings last Oct. 12 that killed 202 people, which was blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah. Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, an alleged Jemaah Islamiyah operative, faces a possible death sentence if convicted.
Tuesday was also the first day of testimony in another bombing case by the alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiyah -- a shadowy group said to be fighting to install a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia.
On Bali, the alleged mastermind behind last year's blasts said he was happy about the hotel attack in Jakarta.
"Thank God, I am thankful," Imam Samudra shouted after he testified in Bali in a peer's trial. "I am happy, especially if the perpetrators were Muslims."
Indonesia's top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday warned of more terrorist attacks in the vast archipelago, saying that the two court cases were reasons enough for Muslim extremists to lash out.
"The government would like to remind the people ... of the possibility of more terrorist attacks," said Yudhoyono.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his government had acquired intelligence in the hours after the bombing that there could be more terrorist attacks in Indonesia in the coming days. He did not say what the intelligence was.
"We think there is a real risk that there could be further attacks, including in central Jakarta," Downer told reporters in Adelaide.
The Chase Plaza building in Jakarta, which house JP Morgan Chase Bank, was evacuated Wednesday morning following a bomb threat there phoned in to a tenant in the building. No further details were immediately available.
The Marriott -- a frequent venue for U.S. Embassy functions and a popular destination for foreigners -- was transformed into a bloody inferno when a vehicle packed with explosives blew up on the driveway leading to its front entrance around midday.
National police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the bomb was a mixture of low yield explosives and TNT, while cans containing gasoline were packed around it to create a fiery blast.
He said officers had found a badly burned head close to the vehicle. "We strongly suspect that (this person) is linked with the bomb."
Bachtiar said the bombers had tried to erase serial numbers on the vehicle's engine and chassis, just as had been done in the Bali car bomb. However, police were able to retrieve all the necessary numbers, he said.
The similarities in the bombings have led police to focus their investigation on Jemaah Islamiyah, he said.
Bachtiar also said police found two dismembered hands at the site, which could provide fingerprints of the suspected suicide bomber.
World leaders expressed horror and outrage at the bombing. The White House called it a "deplorable attack on innocent civilians" and declared its support for the Indonesian government's fight against terrorism.
The Red Cross in Jakarta put the death toll at 14. But Health Minister Achmad Suyudi said that there were only 10 confirmed deaths. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.
The minister said 147 people had been wounded. Those reportedly included at least 10 foreigners, including two Americans. A Dutch citizen was the only foreign fatality.
Keenly aware of the potential economic fallout from the latest blast -- the Bali bombings wrecked tourism in one of the world's premier vacation spots -- Indonesia moved quickly to bolster security.
Yudhoyono said the government had ordered strict checks at the airport and other public places, and said officials would announce even stronger security measures on Wednesday.
REF 6: Samudra Says Militants Will Win Crusade
July 3, 2003 01:35 AM,
Laksamana.Net - The alleged field commander of last year’s deadly Bali nightclub bombings says Islamic militants will win their struggle against Christians.
"We are ready to win the crusade against Christians! We will win!" he was quoted as saying Wednesday (2/7/03) by the Associated Press during his ongoing trial on the resort island.
He made the comment while looking at survivors and relatives of victims of the October 12 blasts that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.
He was then led from the court while punching the air and shouting his now common slogan of “Allah Akbar [God is great]”.
Samudra has admitted to involvement in the bombings, but has recanted his confession implicating radical cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir in the blasts, claiming it was made under police torture.
Similar claims of police torture have been made by fellow suspects Amrozi and Mukhlas, but the courts are proceeding with their trials. Police have denied mistreating any of the extremists.
Prosecutors on Monday recommended the death sentence for Amrozi. Their verdict in his trial is expected in August. Prosecutors are also expected to demand the death penalty for Samudra.
Authorities say the bombings were ordered by regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah to avenge the mistreatment of Muslims by the US and its allies.
Suicide Bombers
Four witnesses in Samudra’s trial on Wednesday testified the defendant had asked them whether they were willing to become suicide bombers.
The four are on trial separately for robbing a jewelry store in western Java last August to help fund jihad operations against enemies of Islam. All testified that Samudra had given them guns to carry out the robbery.
Two of the witnesses said Samudra had only told them of his plans to help Muslims in the strife-ridden regions of Ambon and Poso, where thousands of people were killed over 1999-2002 in religious clashes.
They said Samudra had not told them anything about a plan to conduct bombings in Bali, but had merely asked them if they would detonate bombs to become martyrs. Neither of the three said they agreed to become suicide bombers.
However, one of the witnesses said a man named Iqbal did agree to martyr himself for the cause of Islam.
Authorities believe Iqbal detonated a bomb contained in his jacket shortly before midnight inside Paddy's Bar. A few seconds later, a man called Arnasan reportedly detonated a massive van bomb outside the nearby Sari Club. Arnasan died in the blast but it’s not clear whether he had intended to be a suicide bomber. [back to top]
Ref 7:Death demanded in Bali blast trial
Prosecutors urge maximum penalty for alleged mastermind [Image: Samudra]
Imam Samudra, center, one of the key suspects in the Bali bombings, raises his hands and shouts "God is great. Islam will win!" as he is escorted by police officers to go back to his detention house after his trial at a court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, Monday.
<http://stacks.msnbc.com/Site_Elements/clear.gif>
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BALI, Indonesia, July 28 — Indonesian prosecutors Monday demanded that the Islamic militant accused of masterminding last year’s bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali be sentenced to death.
Ref 8:Amrozi: Bali's 'smiling bomber'
Thursday, August 7, 2003 Posted: 0801 GMT ( 4:01 PM HKT)
[Amrozi told the court he would welcome the death penalty.]
Amrozi told the court he would welcome the death penalty.
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BALI BOMBING SUSPECTS ON TRIAL
Amrozi
- Prosecutors say he attended planning meetings, bought bomb-making chemicals and the van used the carry the largest bomb.
Imam Samudra
- Accused of planning and executing the attacks.
Mukhlas (Ali Ghufron)
- Accused of being in charge of the bombings.
- Said to be the operational chief of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
(CNN) -- To his family he is simply "Amrozi", but around the world he has become known as "the smiling bomber."
Images of the self-confessed murderer of more than 200 people joking with his police interrogators and smiling broadly as he was led into court have sparked astonishment and anger around the world -- not least in neighboring Australia where many of the victims came from.
Throughout his trial, each entrance into court has seen Amrozi punching the air with his fist and shouting "Allahu akbar (God is greatest)."
His lack of remorse and jocular defiance has made Amrozi the face of the Bali bombers.
But Amrozi was just one cog in a large machine, the scale of which has yet to become fully apparent.
And with the bombing of the Jakarta Marriott Hotel just days before Amrozi's trial concluded, the signs are that the machine is still very much operational.
Captured little more than a month after the October 12 blasts in Bali, Amrozi was quick to confess he had bought the minivan used in the main car bomb attack and the chemicals to make the explosives.
Shortly after his arrest, the first of 34 people held in connection with the bombing, he was paraded before invited journalists where he was photographed laughing and joking with his police captors.
He told them he was proud of what he had done, saying the attack was designed to kill as many Americans as possible and he was disappointed that most of the dead were Australians.
That provoked further astonishment. Bali is widely known as a popular and cheap holiday destination for thousands of young Australians and any attack there was bound to cause a large number of Australian casualties.
His statement was a sign of Amrozi's low educational level and an early indicator that he was in no way the brains behind the operation.
Enthusiastic
Rather Amrozi appears to have been an easily impressionable and enthusiastic operative in a ruthlessly planned attack designed simply to cause a maximum number of casualties.
[Amrozi said he was disappointed the attack did not kill more Americans.]
Amrozi said he was disappointed the attack did not kill more Americans.
His lawyers based his defense around proving he was not one of the planners of the carnage.
But still questions remain over how a once shy mechanic from a small village in eastern Java became the face of one of the worst terrorist attacks in recent years.
Born in 1962 Amrozi was the fifth of 13 children.
Two of his brothers are also on trial for their part in the Bali attacks and one of them, Mukhlas, is thought to have been a major influence in turning Amrozi to the militant cause.
After spending many years apart, the two are thought to have reunited in the late 1980s in Malaysia after Amrozi traveled there in search of work.
Prosecutors say he has also admitted meeting radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the alleged spiritual leader of the shadowy Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group who is himself on trial for treason and involvement in a series of earlier bombings.
Amrozi has, however, denied being a member of JI, saying he carried out the attacks to avenge the repression of Muslims around the world.
"Whites" he told the judges during his trial, deserved to die. "Violence is the only language they understand."
Ref 9:Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri delivers a speech to 700 members of Indonesia's top legislative body at the opening of the annual session of People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), in Jakarta August 1, 2003. Megawati on Friday denounced what she called the 'blind fanaticism' of Muslim militants accused of the Bali bombing, describing it as a 'terrifying threat.' REUTERS/Supri
Ref 10:Highly Covert U.S.-Thai Operation Nabbed Hambali
Fri August 15, 2003 01:56 PM ET
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By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The operation by the CIA and Thai counter-terrorism authorities that captured top al Qaeda operative Hambali was so secret that few inside the U.S. government knew of it beforehand, officials said on Friday.
"It was highly compartmented. Hardly anybody knew about it. It was exceedingly carefully planned and carried out, and even within the U.S. government hardly anyone knew about it," a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
Hambali, born Riduan Isamuddin, was hunted throughout Southeast Asia as a suspect in last year's bombings at a Bali nightclub strip and last week's hotel bombing in Jakarta before his capture earlier this week in Thailand.
The CIA initially brought his presence to the attention of Thai authorities, and the Southeast Asian government put that together with tips from local sources about strangers in Ayutthaya, about 50 miles north of Bangkok.
"We received tipoffs from local people that there were strange-looking people staying around there so we checked their background and passports and realized that they were the people we were looking for," Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters in Sri Lanka.
Thai authorities carried out the "kick-down-the-door" raid on the apartment and grabbed the most wanted man in Southeast Asia, along with his wife and two lieutenants from the al Qaeda-linked militant group Jemaah Islamiah, U.S. sources said.
"They deserve great credit for their professionalism and the way in which they carried out the operation without the loss of life," the U.S. official said. "Nobody was killed."
The operation to catch Hambali was only known to a few CIA officials beforehand and his capture was kept from the public for several days.
AL QAEDA CHIEF OPERATIVE
It was revealed by the White House on board Air Force One on Thursday as President Bush traveled to California to greet troops and make a campaign fund-raising swing. He used the occasion to trumpet the arrest and called Hambali "one of the world's most lethal terrorists."
Hambali was the operational chief of Jemaah Islamiah and al Qaeda's chief operative in Southeast Asia, U.S. officials say.
The Indonesian Muslim preacher was being pursued even prior to the Bali bombings as a member of the inner circle of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected planner of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacked-plane attacks that killed about 3,000 people in the United States.
Mohammed, who was captured in March in Pakistan and is in U.S. custody, told interrogators he had given Hambali money to carry out a major attack, U.S. officials said.
Hambali and his two lieutenants were flown out of Thailand in U.S. custody to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
Earlier, one Thai official said Hambali and his wife had been flown to Indonesia, but U.S. sources say he was taken to another destination outside the United States. They said his wife was not in U.S. custody but would not confirm her whereabouts.
Top al Qaeda leaders in U.S. custody are not held together at one location and are not taken to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where hundreds of lower-level al Qaeda suspects are held.
There was some speculation Hambali may have been in Thailand to plot an attack on an APEC summit in October, but there was no evidence to confirm that and he has not admitted to such a plot during interrogation, one source said.
An Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Thailand in October is expected to be attended by world leaders including President Bush.