Indonesia on alert after execution of Bali bombers
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
INDONESIAN security forces were bracing for an extremist backlash yesterday after the execution of three bomber over the 2002 Bali bombings.
Tensions were high after Islamic radicals including members of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional network blamed for the attacks promised retribution for the executions during emotional burial services.
"We're still on alert for any security disturbances after the executions," national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said, saying the readiness level was at its highest.
Indonesia stepped up security at tourist spots and embassies ahead of the execution of the bombers behind the attacks on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.
Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra were executed by firing squad shortly after midnight on Sunday on a prison island off southern Java.
Their funerals in their home villages turned into rallies for hundreds of supporters.
Abu Bakar Bashir, the co-founder of Jemaah Islamiyah who was jailed on a conspiracy charge related to the bombings before being released in 2006, led prayers at the burial service for Amrozi and Mukhlas.
Noor Huda Ismail, an expert on Jemaah Islamiyah, which was allegedly behind the Bali carnage, said he saw more than 20 JI members from Malaysia and Indonesia at one of the funerals.
"That occasion unified these people to share contacts and for making strategies," he said after attending the chaotic funerals for Amrozi and Mukhlas in Tenggulun, east Java.
Several senior JI members are believed to be at large in Indonesia, including Malaysian-born Noordin Mohammad Top, the self-proclaimed leader of a group called al-Qaeda for the Malay Archipelago.
Police said they had arrested two men on the weekend for making bomb threats in protest at the executions. The suspects had no links to any known militant organisation, they said.
The Australian and US embassies received bomb threats last week, along with shopping centres around Jakarta.AFP
Tensions were high after Islamic radicals including members of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional network blamed for the attacks promised retribution for the executions during emotional burial services.
"We're still on alert for any security disturbances after the executions," national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said, saying the readiness level was at its highest.
Indonesia stepped up security at tourist spots and embassies ahead of the execution of the bombers behind the attacks on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.
Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra were executed by firing squad shortly after midnight on Sunday on a prison island off southern Java.
Their funerals in their home villages turned into rallies for hundreds of supporters.
Abu Bakar Bashir, the co-founder of Jemaah Islamiyah who was jailed on a conspiracy charge related to the bombings before being released in 2006, led prayers at the burial service for Amrozi and Mukhlas.
Noor Huda Ismail, an expert on Jemaah Islamiyah, which was allegedly behind the Bali carnage, said he saw more than 20 JI members from Malaysia and Indonesia at one of the funerals.
"That occasion unified these people to share contacts and for making strategies," he said after attending the chaotic funerals for Amrozi and Mukhlas in Tenggulun, east Java.
Several senior JI members are believed to be at large in Indonesia, including Malaysian-born Noordin Mohammad Top, the self-proclaimed leader of a group called al-Qaeda for the Malay Archipelago.
Police said they had arrested two men on the weekend for making bomb threats in protest at the executions. The suspects had no links to any known militant organisation, they said.
The Australian and US embassies received bomb threats last week, along with shopping centres around Jakarta.AFP
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