THE TIMES OF INDIA

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2003

Bali bombings mastermind welcomes death sentence

AP

SYDNEY: The alleged mastermind of last year's terrorist attacks on the
Indonesian island of Bali on Tuesday said he would welcome a death sentence
by firing squad and the chance to become an Islamic martyr.

Imam Samudra will face court on Wednesday to hear whether he has been found
innocent or guilty of planning, financing and carrying out the October 12
attacks at two Bali nightclubs, which killed 202 people, including 88
Australians.

On the eve of his court appearance, Samudra, 33, told Australia's Nine
Network television that he welcomed the prospect of execution.

But he called on Indonesian authorities to show leniency to others accused
in the terror attack -- the worst since those in the United States on
September 11, 2001.

"(Let) me be the only one who gets the death penalty," he said.

"Let me be the one to die as a martyr and release the others, I'm glad with
that."

Samudra predicted the destruction of Australia and the United States within
10 years, as well as continuing conflict between Muslims and Christians in
Indonesia -- the world's most populous Islamic nation.

"There will be war," he said. "War is the solution, it will happen as it
says in the Quran and the Bible."

The Bali blast has been blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaeda-linked
Southeast Asia militant group. It is also accused in other bombings in
Indonesia and the Philippines as well as foiled plots to strike at the US
Embassy and other Western targets in Singapore.

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