INDONESIA: Firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir says Bali bombers execution will make them heroes

Record ID: 356716

  • Title: INDONESIA: Firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir says Bali bombers execution will make them heroes
  • Date: 8th November 2008
  • Summary: CAR CARRYING ABU BAKAR BASHIR ARRIVING AT SCHOOL BASHIR GREETED BY SUPPORTERS AND BIG PHOTOGRAPHS OF THREE BOMBERS IMAM SAMUDRA, AMROZI, MUKHLAS SUPPORTERS LISTENING TO BASHIR'S SPEECH (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) BASHIR SAYING: "We are sad but we are also happy because once the are executed, they will die as heroes." BASHIR SHAKING HANDS WITH SUPPORTERS BASHIR WALKING
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA4T61FF3AT2IDTCTH7MRFC168H
  • Story Text: Firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Bashir visits the family of Bali bombers Mukhlas and Amrozi in their hometown, ahead of their imminent execution for nightclubs bombings in Bali that killed 202 people.
    Indonesian militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who experts said was the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah arrived in a Islamic boarding school in East Java province to meet the family of brothers, Mukhlas and Amrozi.
    Al Islam madrasa was where Mukhlas and Amrozi taught. Hundreds of supporters greeted Bashir as he arrive in the school, barely 200 metres from the bombers home.
    "We are sad but we are also happy because once the are executed, they will die as heroes," said Bashir.
    A giant image of the Bali bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra stood behind Bashir as he spoke to the crowd. He met their family members afterwards in a closed door meeting.
    Indonesian officials have told the family of one of the three militants on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings to be "ready to accept the execution once it happens"-- a sign that the executions may take place soon.
    Indonesia has said it will execute the three men -- Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas, also known as Ali Ghufron -- in early November, but has not specified a date.
    Officials said the men, now in isolated cells in Nusakambangan prison island in central Java, will be executed simultaneously on the same island by firing squads.
    Indonesia's police spokesman said on Friday (November 7), police across the sprawling archipelago have heightened security at key places and foreign embassies.
    Some analysts say there are fears of a hardline backlash because of the execution.
    In an interview with Reuters late last year, the militants said they had no regrets, except for the fact some Muslims died in the blasts.
    The attacks by the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) were intended to scare away foreigners as part of their drive to make Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, part of a larger Islamic caliphate.
    The two blasts on Bali's Kuta strip on Oct. 12, 2002 dealt a severe blow to the island's tourist industry, although also led to Indonesia cooperating more deeply with the West on tackling the threat from Islamic militants.
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