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.