'They are all dead'

2008-11-08 19:39

Cilacap, Indonesia - Three Islamists sentenced to death for the Bali bombings which killed 202 people were executed by firing squad at midnight on Saturday, an intelligence source said.

"They are all dead," he said, requesting anonymity.

Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and ringleader Imam Samudra, 38, were killed with shots to the heart in an orange grove near their prison on Nusakambangan island off southern Java, TV One television reported.

A source in the prison told AFP they shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater) as they were escorted out of their isolation cells by paramilitary police shortly before their executions.

The attorney general's office in Jakarta has told journalists to expect an announcement.

"We are still waiting for confirmation," a spokesperson for the office said.

The bombers were sentenced five years ago for the 2002 attacks on the resort island of Bali which killed more than 160 foreigners including 88 Australians, as well as 38 Indonesians.

The Jemaah Islamiyah militants repeatedly said they wanted to die as "martyrs" for their dream of an Islamic utopia spanning much of Southeast Asia.

But the executions were delayed by a series of failed appeals and legal challenges, and most recently by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in September.

Security forces have been placed on high alert across the mainly Muslim country as a precaution against an explosion of Islamist anger at the first executions to be carried out under Indonesia's anti-terror law.

Sensitive areas like foreign embassies, tourist spots, shopping malls and ports are under close guard. On the Hindu-majority resort island of Bali, 3 500 police are on the streets providing additional security, officials said.

- AFP