Samudra may shed light on foreign role in bombings
Samudra may shed light on foreign role in bombings
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The first hearing of the alleged brain behind the Bali bombings,
Abdul Azis, alias Imam Samudra, is set to start on Monday, in a
trial that might address lingering questions over the role of
foreigners behind the worst terrorist attack in Indonesia.
Along with him, four other suspects, Andi Octavia alias Yudi,
Andi Hidayat alias Agus, Junaedi alias Amin and Abdul Rauf alias
Syam, will be tried on Monday over their alleged roles in robbing
a gold shop to fund the attack.
Samudra is charged with masterminding the bomb attacks that
ripped through two packed nightclubs in Bali, killing at least
202 people in October 2002, and may be facing the death penalty.
Samudra is one of four key suspects out of the 29 arrested so
far in connection with the Bali bombings. The other main suspects
are Amrozi, the first to be arrested and whose trial is underway,
and his brothers Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, and Ali Imron.
While all four key suspects claim the attack was mainly the
work of local terrorists, their statements differ in regards the
role of foreigners in the attack.
Early suspicions that international terrorist group al-Qaeda
was to blame for the attack abated with the arrests of mainly
local terrorists and the uncovering of shadowy terrorist group
Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).
The 33-year-old Samudra is reportedly a senior member of JI, a
regional group linked to al-Qaeda and to which many of the Bali
bombing suspects belong.
The charges against Samudra are based on his confession that
he plotted the attacks and singled out the targets.
His claim of being the mastermind came under question after
suspect Amrozi said he saw him taking orders from "three
foreigners".
Amrozi's police file reported of a meeting with three foreign
men, whose identities and countries of origin remain unknown. He
said the meeting led to a change in the bomb targets that he was
not aware of until after the bombs had exploded.
Another contentious issue is the source of funds for the
bombing. Samudra insists the attack was funded by the proceeds
from the robbery of the gold shop.
Suspect Mukhlas, meanwhile, indicated the use of foreign
funds.
Mukhlas, who claims to know al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden
well, said he received funds from Wan Min, a Malaysian national.
The money, he said, could have come from al-Qaeda, but so far
police had yet to disclose whether or not the Malaysian link had
led them to an al-Qaeda source of funds.
Police also named two additional suspects of Malaysian origin,
including one who allegedly built the bombs. The two, however,
remain at large.
The investigation has so far uncovered a largely homegrown
terrorist network, but some suspects trained abroad and
reportedly attended meetings in Thailand to prepare for the Bali
bombings.
A computer expert, Samudra reportedly trained in Afghanistan,
where he stayed for two-and-a-half years.
Samudra is the second suspect to be tried in the Bali bombing
case.
Samudra is also a suspect in the bombing of churches across
Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2000. He has confessed to bombing a
church on Batam island, Riau.