'Real terrorists are in power'

2003-09-04 09:18

Denpasar, Indonesia - Key Bali bomb suspect Mukhlas said on Thursday he is only small fry in the terrorism world, despite the death of 202 people in the attack, and the real "big fishes" are the US, British and Israeli leaders.

Mukhlas, who could face a firing squad if convicted of authorising last October's blasts, devoted much of his defence plea to a wide-ranging attack on the Western leaders.

"These big fishes in terrorism are the one who conducted extraordinary crimes against humanity," Mukhlas told the court, naming US President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

They waged terrorism in various fields, including religion, the economy, politics and the military.

Nothing but lust

"They are the ones who made Muslims no longer go to the mosque, Christians never go to the church and Hindus never go to the temple but rather choose to go to places which offer to satiate lust," said Mukhlas, alias Ali Gufron.

"They made people no longer know anything else but lust."

Police say Mukhlas is an operations chief of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the al-Qaeda linked regional terror group blamed for the Bali blasts and for a string of other bloody attacks.

JI's motive in bombing two nightclubs packed with Western tourists on the resort island was to avenge attacks against Muslims in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Mukhlas has said previously he has no regrets over the bombings "because the Jews led by the United States and Israel have already declared war against Muslims."

He has said in another trial that he knew Osama bin Laden well when they were both fighting in Afghanistan. He has named one of his children Osama.

Prosecutors say that as JI's "chief of jihad operations in Indonesia," it was Mukhlas who authorised a proposal from fellow suspect Imam Samudra to stage the Bali attack.

They dropped atom bombs

Mukhlas, reading his defence plea in a calm tone, said the world's "real terrorists" had dropped atomic bombs in the past "and it is not impossible that they will drop nuclear bombs in the future."

He said they had already laid waste to Afghanistan and Iraq and were ready to target other countries such as Syria and Jordan in their alleged quest to fight terrorism.

"And they will spread further to other places," Mukhlas said.

Prosecutors have sought death sentences for both Mukhlas and Samudra, whose verdict is to be decided next Wednesday. A brother of Mukhlas called Amrozi has already been sentenced to death.

Prosecutors say Mukhlas took part in planning the attack and attended several preparatory meetings before giving his final authorisation.

They said he had also channeled money totalling $35 500 from Malaysian Wan Min Wan Mat to other suspects to purchase materials.

Mukhlas has previously denied he was directly involved in the Bali attack.

"My involvement was only as an ustadz (teacher) and the giver of the money," he said at a previous session. "I never saw a bomb being assembled."

Police have detained 34 Bali suspects, of whom 27 are on trial.

At a separate court prosecutors sought a 20-year jail sentence for Hernianto, who allegedly allowed his home to be used for one of the planning meetings.

- AFP