Bali bomber warns of attacks
2008-06-18 10:01
Jakarta, Indonesia - An Islamic militant awaiting execution in Indonesia for carrying out the 2002 Bali bombings has warned that al-Qaeda would be "very likely" to launch revenge attacks if authorities kill him, a magazine reported.
Imam Samudra and two other Indonesian militants were sentenced to death in 2003 for their roles in the suicide attacks that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, at two nightclubs on the resort island of Bali.
The three - who have admitted to planning and taking part in the strikes - are awaiting a final legal appeal to their sentences.
Samudra was interviewed in prison by a local hard-line Islamist magazine, Jihadmagz.
Asked whether al-Qaeda would send operatives to Indonesia to launch attacks if he were executed, he said, "That is very likely. God willing, hopefully that will happen. Everyone knows that the armies of Allah are (everywhere)."
The magazine, which has a circulation of 10 000, hit newsstands in Indonesia last week.
The Bali attacks were carried out by members and associates of Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant group whose leaders came under the influence of al-Qaeda in the late 1990s when they trained and fought in Afghanistan.
Since then, militants have launched three more attacks on Western targets in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. The latest attack, against restaurants in Bali in 2005, killed 12.
Indonesia does not announce executions in advance, but authorities have reportedly been preparing to carry out the punishment if the three men's appeal at the Supreme Court fails.
Officials there have not said when they will rule on the appeal, which is known as a judicial review.
- AP