ASIA: Islamic leaders condemn Bali bombers after execution
09 Nov 2008 7:13 PMBy Karen Michelmore and Marian Carroll
CILACAP, Central Java, Nov 9 AAP - Islamic leaders have condemned the Bali bombers in a bid to quell religious tensions after the three militants diedtogether at the hands of elite Indonesian police snipers in Central Java today.
Indonesia was tonight on high alert for terrorist attacks and mob violence,as hundreds of hardline followers gathered in the bombers' home villages in east and west Java to bury the men responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings.
Authorities are fearing reprisals as news of the executions reverberate around the archipelago and world, and Australia has warned travellers to reconsider their plans to visit the world's largest Muslim nation.
The head of Indonesia's top Islamic body, the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), denounced Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, saying they have not died as martyrs, as the three wished.
"To die as a martyr is impossible - people who kill cannot be said to be martyrs unless it is war," MUI head Umar Shihab told detik.com.
"I think it's not right. We are not at war.
"We are in peace and what they did, they killed Muslims."
The three bombers died immediately and opted not to be blindfolded in the lead-up to their execution by firing squad, officials said.
Police were on high alert across Indonesia, particularly at shopping centres and embassies, which have recently been subject to bomb threats.
The burials late today follow a day of high emotion, where scores of hardliners flocked to the men's villages in Serang, West Java, and Lamongan, EastJava, shouting "Allahu Akbar", or "God is greater".
They were the same words the three men shouted early today as they were taken from their isolation cells, where they have been held under special conditions for a week and have lived for the past three years, to their meetingwith the firing squad.
Heavy storms cleared, as the men were handcuffed, and placed in separate trucks for the six-kilometre journey to their execution point, an orange plantation in a disused prison on Nusakambanan Island, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz, off Central Java.
It is not yet known what their last words were as they were chained to separate two-metre high poles, several metres from each other, and a doctor placed a marker over the exact position of their hearts.
Then, the 12 specially-trained police snipers lined up facing each of them,who after receiving the final order from their commander, simultaneously peppered their bodies with 5.6mm bullets.
Only one sniper in each group of 12 had a live bullet, a spokesman for Indonesia's Attorney General's office Jasmine Pandjaitan said.
The three condemned men did not put up a fight before their executions, he said.
"They were very cooperative," Jasmine said of the convicted terrorists.
"They died immediately, a few moments after they were shot," he added.
The men had asked not to be blindfolded but did not give a reason for the request, he said.
Prosecutors informed the men about their impending date with the death squad on Wednesday, and they were moved into complete isolation on Friday.
"The three of them were asked if they had anything to convey, they didn't convey any message," Jasmine said.
After the three were pronounced dead, their bodies were taken to a health clinic for autopsy, and their bodies prepared for burial, in line with Islamic custom. A brother of Amrozi and Mukhlas, Ali Fauzi, brought two 20-metrepieces of fabric from his home village in which to wrap the bodies of his siblings.
The execution was reportedly the biggest ever held in Indonesia, with up to1,000 mobile brigade police on the island alone for security.
Reaction was swift across Indonesia, and the world, following the state-sanctioned deaths of the men who killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, when they organised twin bomb attacks at nightclubs in Bali on October 12, 2002.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his thoughts and prayers were with the families of victims shattered by the blasts, as his government announced it would press for an international moratorium on capital punishment atthe United Nations General Assembly.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he had nothing but contempt for the bombers, but Australia did not support the death penalty.
"Australia, of course, for a long period of time has generally opposed capital punishment," he told ABC Television just hours after the executions.
"We urge countries who continue to apply capital punishment not to do so."
In Bali and Australia, the news brought relief to some survivors and families of those killed in the Bali bombings, but others feared reprisal attacks.
"I have (a sense of) trepidation as to what might happen as a result of this," said former Adelaide magistrate Brian Deegan, who lost his son Josh in the bombings.
"I'm very concerned about that. There's no shortage around the world of persons that are prepared to commit suicide to achieve a result."
Amnesty International, meanwhile, said the government's failure to oppose the executions of the bombers had put the lives of Australians on death row at risk, such as three members of the Bali Nine.
The three death row Bali Nine heroin traffickers have sombrely followed theexecutions of the Bali bombers, which have provided a stark reminder of the fate awaiting them.
"Their general mood is a bit more sombre," said a regular visitor, Pastor Ed Trottor.
"It's obviously very much on their minds. It's been weighing more heavily upon them - particularly the three facing the death sentence - than it has before.
"It's really brought it home to them, what they're facing and how serious the government is."