Defendant Mukhlas says Bali bombings premeditated

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.