Defendant Mukhlas says Bali bombings premeditated

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

One key defendant in the Bali bombings, Ali Gufron, admitted on Wednesday that the bombings in Bali were a premeditated act.

His confession is likely to strengthen the position of prosecutors, who have charged the defendant with planning, conspiring and financing, as well as executing, the terrorist attacks, a crime punishable by death under the law on terrorism.

Muklas' younger brother, Amrozi, was sentenced to death on Aug. 7 for his role in the bombings. His other brother, Ali Imron, is also on trial for the same offense.

"Right from the beginning I always thought of ways to avenge the aggression the U.S. and its allies had inflicted upon my Muslim brothers and sisters," said Ali Gufron, alias Muklas, who is also believed to be the regional leader of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist network.

He recalled a television broadcast that indicated the differences between security measures established at the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and the U.S. Consular Agency office in Bali. The embassy was protected by barbed wire while the other office was not.

"Then I thought that Bali could be attacked because the broadcast claimed that Bali was safe," he said.

Muklas also told the court that he visited Bali early in October 2002 to survey potential targets for the bombings, particularly places frequented by westerners.

However, he stressed that the target of the attack was not Bali.

"I did not wage war on Bali, but against those who opposed Islam. We selected the island as a place to conduct the attack because many westerners -- Americans, Australians and Britons -- were antagonizing Islam in Bali," he said.

While denying that he was the coordinator of the attack, Muklas admitted that all other bombing suspects respected him as their senior.

Chief prosecutor I Putu Indriati, meanwhile, insisted that the defendant had produced a written confession claiming that he was the general coordinator of the bombings.

Muklas also admitted receiving a large sum in U.S. and Thailand banknotes from a Malaysian national, Wan Min bin Wan Mat, the alleged treasurer of JI. The money, the equivalent of Rp 100 million to Rp 200 million, was later used to finance the bombings.

"I remember giving Rp 20 million to Abdul Ghoni to purchase several items for the bombings. In short, all the money was used to finance the bombings," he said.

During the trial, Muklas also expressed doubt over whether the bomb could really have caused such a tremendous explosion, in which at least 202 people perished, mostly foreigners.

Muklas claimed that during his time in Afghanistan he had seen many bombs that were bigger in size and better in quality than the bombs his group had assembled for the Bali operation.

Muklas also expressed his regret over the death of many Indonesians in the bombings. The trial was adjourned to Monday, Aug. 25, to hear the prosecutors' sentence demand.