Suspect says unaware of bomb plan

Suspect says unaware of bomb plan

DENPASAR: A man accused of involvement in last year's Bali bombing admitted on Monday he helped prepare ingredients for a deadly bomb, but said he was initially told the chemicals were to make fertilizer.

Abdul Ghoni, who could face a firing squad if found guilty, said he ground chemicals at the home of convicted bomber Amrozi in Java in September 2002 and later took four boxes of the powdered chemical to the resort island by bus.

He told the court he did not know at the time that the chemicals were material for a bomb because Amrozi, who has been sentenced to death for his role in the bombings that killed 202 people, told him they were for fertilizer.

Ghoni admitted he was in Bali on Oct.1 when the potassium chlorate, sulfur and aluminum powder were mixed into an explosive combination, but he said he did not take part in the mixing.

"I only moved the explosive powder from plastic bags into the filing cabinet," he told the court.

The explosive materials were packed into a filing cabinet in the back of a van that exploded outside the Sari Club on Oct. 12, 2002. A suicide bomb went off seconds earlier inside Paddy's pub, but the Sari Club blast claimed the most lives.

Ghoni is accused of helping to plan the attacks and assemble the bombs and of possessing explosives.

He said the man who mixed the chemicals was Sarjiyo, who is facing trial separately and has admitted to mixing the explosive powder.

Three key suspects have been sentenced to death for the Bali attack, which killed mostly Western holidaymakers, and two others to life imprisonment.--AFP