Clashes After Indonesia Executes 3 Bali Bombers

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TENGGULUN: Thousands of people including some hardliners gathered for the funerals of three Indonesians executed on Sunday for the 2002 Bali bombings, sparking clashes between police and emotional supporters.

The three men from Jemaah Islamiah -- Imam Samudra, 38, Mukhlas, 48, and Amrozi, 46 -- were executed by firing squad on Nusakambangan island in central Java shortly after midnight, the attorney-general's office said.

The two explosions on Bali's Kuta strip on Oct. 12, 2002 killed 202 people including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians.

The bombers' bodies were flown from the prison by helicopter to their hometowns -- brothers Mukhlas and Amrozi to Tenggulun in Lamongan, East Java, and Imam Samudra to Serang in West Java.

"Looking at this, I feel sad, but then I am also proud that he is a Mujahid (Muslim fighter)," said Nuranda, a woman who came to offer her condolences to Imam Samudra's family.

About 3,000 people from West Java cities gathered amid tight security as Samudra's body was carried to a mosque for prayers, with some jostling to touch the body or help carry the bier.

Security has been tight in Indonesia and some analysts have said they feared a backlash if the executions went ahead.

Although there have been no major bomb attacks since 2005, Indonesia is considered still at risk.

In Tenggulun, thousands of militant Islamists from groups such as the Islamic Defenders' Front, some wearing white skull caps, had gathered, shadowed by armed police and many reporters.

The crowds included hardline Muslims chanting "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest). Some clashed with police as authorities tried to prevent them from getting too close to the bodies.

Among those in the streets were followers of controversial cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who was accused of co-founding regional militant group Jemaah Islamiah and jailed for conspiracy over the Bali bombings, but later cleared of wrongdoing.

Bashir was due to say prayers at the funeral.

In Serang, Imam Samudra's body was taken from his wife's home to a mosque. Some watching shook their fists in the air chanting "Allahu akbar" but others appeared to be just curious spectators.

Jemaah Islamiah said the Bali attacks were intended to deter foreigners as part of a drive to make Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, part of a larger Islamic caliphate.

In an interview with international news agency late last year, the militants said their only regret was that some Muslims were killed.

About a hundred Balinese, including some survivors, prayed at a memorial near the blast site in Kuta.

"Next time the government should be firm in handling the perpetrators of violence," said a survivor, Tumini. "It's been a long tiring wait."




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