U.S. welcomes death sentence for Bali bomber Amrozi

U.S. welcomes death sentence for Bali bomber Amrozi

Agence France-Presse, Washington/Sydney, Australia

The United States on Thursday welcomed the death sentence
slapped on an Islamic militant known as the "laughing bomber"
by an Indonesian court in the first conviction over last year's
Bali nightclub blasts which killed 202 people.

"We commend the government of Indonesia for the professional
manner in which it conducted this trial. The court's decision is
a clear sign that Indonesia is serious about combating
terrorism," said Tara Rigler, a State Department spokeswoman.

Investigators say the al-Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI)
group targeted nightclubs popular with foreigners as part of a
holy war to avenge oppression of Muslims worldwide.

JI has also been linked by police to a bombing at a U.S.-run
hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday, in which at least 10 people died.
Authorities have warned the group may strike again to avenge the
Bali verdict.

"Bringing the perpetrators to justice is an important step in
ensuring that what happened in Bali is never repeated," said
Rigler.

"In fact, the deplorable attack on the Jakarta Marriott this
week was greeted by Amrozi and his counterpart Imam Samudra with
elation and is a testament to the serious threat that still
remains to both Indonesia and the world.

Indonesia was criticized by the United States following the
Bali blasts last October, the worst terrorist attack since the
Sept. 11, 2001 strikes in the United States, for not doing enough
to crack down on terrorism.

But it has since won U.S. praise, and President George W. Bush
on Wednesday called Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri
to praise her "tough" leadership in the antiterror fight, the
White House said.

Rigler said the U.S. government trusted that Indonesia would
"pursue the other cases related to the Bali attacks with equal
determination and competence and that those found guilty will
receive punishments commensurate with the gravity of their
crimes."

Meanwhile, Australian newspapers on Friday praised Indonesia's
handling of the trial that resulted in a death sentence for Bali
bomber Amrozi and said the joint fight against terrorism had
helped cement Australia-Indonesia ties.

Photographs of the so-called "laughing bomber" Amrozi smiling
and giving thumbs-up signs to the public gallery in a Denpasar
court as his death sentence was handed down dominated front pages
across the country.

Laughing all the way to Hell ran the banner headline on
Sydney's Daily Telegraph, while the Hobart Mercury declared
"that'll wipe the smile off this mass murderer's face".

The Australian newspaper's editorial said the five judges who
sentenced Amrozi to die by firing squad had adopted "the right
and only course available to them".

"They deserve our admiration," it said. "It took courage to
stare down the implicit threat of the attack on the Marriott
Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday."

The Australian said the fair and open trial, following a
remarkably efficient police investigation to track down the Bali
bombers, represented a watershed for Indonesia.

"It has reiterated to a world audience that Indonesia is in
the hands of its democratically elected leaders and their
appointed officials, not in the hands of fanatics," it said.

The Telegraph also praised Indonesian authorities, saying they
had shown themselves determined to capture and punish extremist
criminals while cooperating with Australian investigators and
keeping the entire process transparent.

"Those shared values are the basis of the strong relationship
between our two nations and their reinforcement during the
painful post-bombing period will strengthen the bond," the
newspaper's editorial said.

The Sydney Morning Herald said "justice under Indonesian law
has been done".

"That is closure of sorts. But it is by no means the end of
the Bali tragedy," it said.

The newspaper questioned the wisdom of executing Amrozi,
saying JI remained a potent threat and "for operational reasons,
Amrozi may be more useful to investigators alive, in custody".

It said Amrozi's death would not deter other extremists from
committing heinous crimes and risked turning him into a terrorist
martyr.

"Amrozi's death may go ahead. But the fear then must be that
the martyr's death he craves will simply rally more zealots to
his bloody cause," the newspaper concluded.