Witness says Bali bomb part of jihad on US

The Islamic militant accused of planning last year’s Bali bombings targeted the tourist island as part of a “programme of jihad” against the United States for its invasion of Afghanistan, a key witness said today.

Ali Imron, himself a suspect in the October 12 bombings, testified that in a meeting to plan the attack, alleged mastermind Imam Samudra told a group of 10 bombers that jihad, or holy war, must be waged to “defend the people of Afghanistan from America”.

The testimony came during the trial of Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, who is accused of buying explosives, bomb-making material and the vehicle used in the attack.

The blasts killed 202 people, including 26 Britons, and placed Indonesia on the front lines of the US-led war on terror.

The trials of Amrozi, Samudra and four other Bali bombings suspects have already begun. Trials of 27 other suspects currently in custody are expected to follow.

“He (Samudra) told us that Bali was picked because it was frequented by Americans and their associates,” said Imron.

Imron, who is Amrozi’s younger brother, said Amrozi asked him to accompany him to the west Java city of Surabaya to fetch explosives and help transport them to Bali in late September.

Samudra, whose trial began on Monday and was set to resume tomorrow, was mentioned as much as Amrozi during the latter’s trial today.

Prosecutor Nyoman Dili had earlier accused Samudra of organising key planning meetings before the attacks and overseeing almost every step of the process.

Dili said the suspected bombers decided in one meeting to avenge the deaths of Muslims at the hands of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

Imron said the meeting at the Central Java home of Hernianto – another of the 33 bombing suspects – took place two months before last year’s nightclub bombings, the worst terrorist attack since September 11, 2001.

Hernianto said he was not present at the meeting but “heard Zulkarnaen and Imam Samudra pick Bali as a target”. Zulkarnaen, another suspect wanted in connection with the bombings, is at large.

Samudra is suspected of being a key figure in the al-Qaida-linked south-east Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, believed to be responsible for the bombings.

He was not present at the courthouse today.

If found guilty, both Samudra and Amrozi could be executed under anti-terror laws passed after the bombings.