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Bombers inspired by bin Laden
10/07/2003 10:23 - (SA)
Denpasar - The Bali bombers were inspired by an edict issued by Osama bin Laden, according to a witness statement read to an Indonesian court on Thursday.
Prosecutors in the trial of key Bali suspect Imam Samudra read the statement from another top suspect Wan Min bin Wan Mat, who is detained in Malaysia.
Wan Min said he believed the bombings were intended as a "warning for foreigners - Americans and Australians who are setting their feet in Bali and who are infidels and enemies of Islam".
He said the blasts were carried out "as a fatwa (edict) issued by Osama bin Laden and this was based on sermons by JI leaders such as Hambali between 1999 and 2000".
Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which is blamed for the Bali blasts and a string of other deadly attacks, is believed linked to bin Laden's al-Qaeda.
The bombing of two nightspots crowded with Western tourists killed 202 people from 21 countries last October. Police say JI staged tbe blasts to avenge injustices to Muslims worldwide.
Bin Laden was also linked to JI in tesimony given last month at the Jakarta trial of JI's alleged leader Abu Bakar Bashir.
Witness Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana, who is detained in Singapore, said via a TV link that he and Bashir once discussed "a programme of Sheikh Osama." He did not elaborate.
Police say Wan Min was one of the masterminds of the Bali attack. Hambali is said to have been JI's operations chief until he was replaced by a man called Mukhlas, who is on trial separately in Bali.
Wan Min, in his statement, said no "special meeting" had ever been held to discuss the bombings.
But he confirmed that he and five other JI leaders had approved the replacement of Hambali by Mukhlas at a February 2002 meeting in Bangkok.
The others were Malaysians Dr Azahari and Noordin Muhammad Top, Hambali, Mukhlas and Zulkifli.
Wan Min admitted he had sent $30 500 in three instalments to Mukhlas to finance "operations in Indonesia as previously planned" in Bangkok.
He said he had no idea what the money would be used for and was only carrying out orders by Hambali and Mukhlas.
He said he never received any report about how the money was used and detectives had told him about the Bali bombings while he was in detention.
Wan Mat said he had "no clear knowledge" of the aim behind the bombings in Bali because he was not involved in its planning and execution.
Police say Samudra, 33, was field commander of the Bali attack and picked the targets. He and other leading suspects face death by firing squad if convicted.
Wan Min said he had known Samudra since 1995 and Samudra had often visited Mukhlas at the Lukmanul Hakim Islamic boarding school in Malaysia's Johor state.
The trial was adjourned till next Wednesday.
- AFX
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