Herald Sun [Melbourne]
October 2, 2003

INSIGHT

Murder in Bali

Part 1: Deadly Plot

By Keith Moor

It is a year ago this month since 88 Australians died in a terrorist
attack
that killed 202 people in Bali's nightclub district.

Herald Sun Insight editor Keith Moor today provides the most detailed look
yet at the Bali bombings.

He spent two months interviewing people and examining thousands of pages
of
court transcripts and other documents to piece together why and how a group of
fanatical Muslims declared war on the West, and attacked Westerners simply out
enjoying themselves.

Moor's exclusive 20-page report traces the bombers' background,
reconstructs
what happened on the night through the eyes of those in the Sari Club and
Paddy's Pub, and examines the police hunt for the terrorists.

THE plot to blow up Westerners in Bali took years to germinate. Its seeds
were first sown in the mind of Bali bombing architect Mukhlas as far back as
1986 by now dead Jemaah Islamiah founder Abdullah Sungkar.

Al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden helped those kernels grow when he fought
alongside Mukhlas in Afghanistan during 1987.

They were further fed in January 2002 when Mukhlas attended a meeting in
Thailand chaired by then JI operational leader Hambali.

Hambali decreed during the meeting that the terrorist group would
concentrate its future attacks on soft targets frequented by citizens of the
United States and its allies.

And those seeds finally came to fruition that year when Mukhlas teamed up
with fellow Afghanistan-trained terrorist Imam Samudra.

Between them they put together a team in mid-2002 to plan and carry out
the
October 12 Sari Club and Paddy's Pub bombings in Bali's entertainment strip of
Kuta.

JI head Sungkar inducted Mukhlas into the group in 1986, with Mukhlas
swearing the JI oath to "promise to obey my Amir (leader) in all things, as
long
as he does not give orders in violation of God's law".

Mukhlas claims he was visited by the prophet Mohammed in a dream soon
after
his JI induction, and that the prophet suggested he join the "holy war" in
Afghanistan.

He took note of what Mohammed had said, leaving almost immediately for the
border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and spending the next two years
taking part in the jihad against Afghanistan's Soviet invaders.

"I met with Sheik Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in Joji," Mukhlas said.

"At the time the Joji area was under continuous attack by Russian forces.
The mujahidin staged an attack in Joji and I joined them.

"The leader of the mujahidin in Joji, as well as the leader of the camp,
was
Sheik Osama bin Laden.

"Everything was funded by Sheik Osama bin Laden.

"I first became acquainted with Hambali in Afghanistan in 1987-88, as one
who was training with me in Afghanistan.

"When I was waging jihad in Afghanistan I went to war using an AK47 and
also
a few mortars and other things, being trained by other fellow mujahidin."

After returning from Afghanistan in 1989, Mukhlas, at the suggestion of JI
leader Sungkar, established the Lukman nul Hakim religious school at Johor in
Malaysia.

It quickly became a JI recruiting ground, as did Sungkar's al-Mukmin
Islamic
boarding school at Ngruki, in the central Java city of Solo.

Several of the Bali bombers trained or taught at these schools.

The al-Mukmin school now takes in about 1900 students a year.

Watching his older brother Mukhlas develop as an Islamic fundamentalist
with
a hatred of all things American was an equally impressionable Amrozi.

The ever-smiling Amrozi was inspired by his sibling's warmongering
exploits
and was easily recruited into the anti-US cause.

He was also influenced by a sermon given in 2000 by radical Muslim cleric
Abu Bakar Bashir, who reputedly took over from Sungkar as leader of JI after
Sungkar's death in 1999.

"I remember I felt that the sermon made it clear that the Koran and the
Hadisc indicated that we needed to go to war with America due to its
opposition
to Islam," Amrozi said.

"Since that sermon I have wanted to war with America."

MUKHLAS and Amrozi's youn ger brother Ali Imron shared in this fervent
zeal
to attack the US -- hardly surprising, having been indoctrinated in the same
schools of terrorism as Mukhlas.

Imron did his stint of jihad in Afghanistan between 1992-95.

"I studied the science of war, including using weapons, AK47, TT pistols,
which are built in Russia, RPG rockets, built in Russia, mortars and the
method
of building various bombs," Imron said.

JI became increasingly organised and active during the late 1990s,
culminating in Hambali ordering a string of church bombings in Indonesia on
Christmas Eve 2000 that killed 19 people.

The authorities were on to Hambali after that and it became increasingly
difficult for him to be an effective terrorist leader.

He decided at a Kuala Lumpur meeting in March 2001 to step down as
chairman
of one of JI's four cells -- known as Mantiqi 1, 2, 3 and 4 -- so he could go
into hiding.

Mukhlas by this time had impressed JI's executive team and he was elected
to
replace Hambali as the new chairman of JI's Mantiqi 1, which covers Malaysia,
Singapore and southern Thailand.

Mantiqi 2 incorporates most of Indonesia; Mantiqi 3 -- until recently
headed by Mukhlas' brother-in-law Nasir bin Abbas -- takes in East Kalimantan,
Sabah, South Philippines and Sulawesi; and Mantiqi 4 is responsible for
Australia and Irian Jaya.

"A selection process to appoint me as head of Mantiqi 1 was done by
consultation and it was unanimous," Mukhlas said.

"The reason I was chosen was because all those present held the view that
from a religious aspect, I was superior to the others.

"Besides that, I was regarded as experienced. I headed a religious
school. I
waged jihad and trained in Afghanistan."

Although in hiding, Hambali continued to scheme against the US and was
still
seen as superior to the four Mantiqi leaders, being answerable only to reputed
overall JI leader Bashir.

IT was Hambali who convened a January 2002 JI meeting in southern Thailand
to announce a change of strategy that would ultimately lead to tourist spots
in
Bali becoming targets.

Hambali told those attending, including Mukhlas, that he wanted JI to
start
attacking soft targets where Westerners, Americans or their allies went to
shop,
socialise or holiday.

He said it was becoming too risky to attack hard targets as a result of
increased security around such places as embassies.

Hambali convened a second meeting the next month in Bangkok to further
discuss the soft target strategy and continuing jihad against the US and its
allies.

It was attended by a veritable Who's Who of JI, including chief executive
officer Wan Min, future JI leadership prospect Zulkifli Marzuki, bomb maker Dr
Azahari, financier Noor Din Mohammed Top and Mukhlas.

Just like the Italian mafia, those at the top of JI are often linked
either
through marriage or blood ties.

Dr Azahari, Top and Mukhlas are married to three sisters who are the
daughters of a Haji from Sumatra.

A Haj is the pilgrimage to Mecca and the fifth of the five pillars of
Islam.

Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so is obliged to make the
pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.

AFTER performing the Haj, some cultures allow Muslims to prefix Haji to
their name as an honorific.

Less than eight weeks after the two Thailand JI leadership summits, money
man Wan Min handed Mukhlas $US35,500 to fund the attacking of the first soft
target.

No decision had been made yet as to what that soft target would be.

But during the next few months, Mukhlas and Samudra singled out Bali as
the
area in which to find the proposed soft targets.

Samudra -- who actually placed and detonated one of the bombs during the
Christmas 2000 church bombing campaign in Indonesia -- said Mukhlas
summonsed him to a meeting in Solo in April 2002.

It was in the home of bomb maker Dulmatin and the thrice-married Amrozi
was
also in attendance.

"The meeting agenda was an evaluation of the bombings carried out thus far
in churches," Samudra said.

"They were assessed as ineffective and not well received by the Muslim
community, and in future we could better focus our targets on America and her
allies.

"Mukhlas suggested we explode a bomb at the Australian School in Jakarta.
I
disagreed because the victims would have been children or school security
guards.

"We also discussed the plan to explode a bomb at Newmont (a gold mine) in
Lombok. All those in attendance agreed to carry this out."

Samudra said there was a second meeting soon after at the Solo home of
Bashir.

"Bashir critiqued that the church bombings were ineffective and there were
innocent victims," Samudra said. "Bashir also said we should concentrate on
confronting America and her allies.

"Bashir gave two envelopes of money to Mukhlas, who later told me it
contained $US6000, Singapore $17,000 and 15,000 rupees."

More funding for the soft-target bombing campaign was raised during an
August 2002 robbery at the Elita Indah Gold Shop in West Java, in which shop
assistant Vini Khian, 18, was shot and wounded.

Samudra was given the proceeds of that robbery, which amounted to gold and
jewellery weighing 2.5kg and 5 million rupiah in cash.

He had orchestrated the robbery and it was carried out by Abdul Rauf,
Hidayat, Junaedi and Acong.

Rauf later recruited a number of potential suicide bombers and Acong, who
used the aliases Arnasan and Jimi, ended up being the one who detonated the
Sari
Club vehicle bomb.

The next meeting to discuss the soft-target bombing campaign was in
Amrozi's
car outside a petrol station in Solo in August 2002, with Samudra and Dulmatin
in attendance.

"Today we have begun a big project. Today we have declared war on
America,"
Samudra told them.

"We will have to wait before establishing a target and plan because we
need
time to seek the target, the means and, most importantly, the funds."

SEVEN days later he met Amrozi and Christmas 2000 church bomber Idris at
a
Solo mosque.

Samudra ordered Amrozi to buy enough chemicals to make a bomb of at least
one tonne and a vehicle to put it in.

He gave Idris the job of organising accommodation and transport for the
bombing team.

A larger meeting was organised for mid-August 2002 at the Solo home of JI
foot soldier Hernianto.

Mukhlas arrived at the meeting with his younger brothers Amrozi and Ali
Imron.

Also among those in attendance were Samudra, Dulmatin, Idris and Abdul
Ghani.

Samudra opened the meeting with a prayer before getting down to the deadly
business of deciding what to bomb and when and where.

"Mukhlas explained the operations were to be conducted under his orders
and
had the blessing of grandpa -- grandpa being Bashir," Samudra said.

"The Newmont bombing in Lombok was cancelled because many employees were
Muslims.

"Mukhlas suggested the subsequent bombing project was in Bali and I agreed
because I had the same idea, mainly after America bombed Afghanistan during
the
fasting month of September 2001.

"The other meeting parties agreed with the plan. Mukhlas appointed me to
co-ordinate the execution of the Bali bombings and I accepted this
appointment."

Samudra, as commander of the Bali bombing operation, was responsible for
setting targets, locations, times and the actual strategic bombing plans.

He used the meeting in Hernianto's home to confirm Amrozi's role as
chemical
and vehicle bomb buyer, and Idris's appointment as field commander responsible
for reconnaissance and logistics, such as accommodation and the transport
needs
of the bomb crew.

Samudra also gave Dulmatin the task of constructing the bombs and ordered
Abdul Ghani to assist in the bomb assembly.

Imron said Samudra had originally wanted the Bali bombing to take place on
September 11, 2002, to coincide with the first anniversary of the September 11
World Trade Centre attack in New York.

But others in the group argued that was not allowing enough time for them
to
prepare.

No date for the bombing ended up being fixed during the meeting at
Hernianto's house.

Imron said they decided to wait until the materials and funding were in
place before settling on a date, but September was certainly too early.

Amrozi wasted no time finding a vehicle. With Idris, he bought a 1983
Mitsubishi L300 van from Aswar Prianto in East Java for 32 million rupiah in
early September 2002.

He then stripped out the seats and airconditioning unit.

THINKING ahead about avoiding detection, Amrozi also got out his angle
grinder and ground off the L300's engine and chassis numbers.

Amrozi prepared a flat surface in the rear by installing a false floor,
making it easier to load and bolt in the bomb. All this was done at his home
in
the East Java village of Tenggulun.

As Amrozi was preparing the bomb vehicle, his older brother Mukhlas was
paid
a surprise visit by JI master bomb builder Dr Azahari.

"I was surprised to see Dr Azahari coming in with Noor Din Top,
accompanied
by Dulmatin," Mukhlas said. "Dr Azahari came to see me in Tenggulun because he
saw me as one who was considered the leader and his coming to see me was in
relation to the planning for the American and allied interests.

"Dr Azahari spoke to me about my stay in Malaysia and informed me about
the
plans of bombing American interests in Singapore.

"They said they were not able to carry it out so they came to Indonesia
to
join in the conduct of bombings in Indonesia. The following morning, I left
for Solo with Dr Azahari, Dulmatin and others.

"On arrival in Solo, at the house of Dulmatin, I passed Dr Azahari to
Dulmatin to discuss the large scale bombing which I and my friends had planned
at a previous meeting at Hernianto's house in Solo.

"I stayed with Dr Azahari talking with Dulmatin until about 5am.

"We discussed the technical problems of carrying out bombings on targets
in
Legian, Bali. I did not officially request Dr Azahari to help Dulmatin with
planning the bombings in Legian.

"I introduced Dr Azahari to Dulmatin, bearing in mind Dulmatin was an
expert
bomb maker, as was Dr Azahari, so that to achieve a good outcome, it was
better
to have one bomb expert talking to another bomb expert."

MEANWHILE, Amrozi was busy buying the chemicals Dr Azahari and Dulmatin
would eventually mix into the Sari Club bomb.

He went to the Tidar Kima chemical shop of Silvester Tendean in Surabaya
on
September 18 and on September 23, buying chemicals weighing more than a tonne.

"I went by myself to Surabaya and asked questions from shop to shop,
asking
for what I needed, and I ended up buying the chemicals at Tidar Kima," Amrozi
said.

He said he knew the owner of the shop as he had previously bought
chemicals
there in 2000 to send to the Indonesian island of Ambon to help Muslims who
were
battling Christians there.

Although the chemicals bought by Amrozi were unrestricted, and as such did
not need to be reported to police, Amrozi still insisted on his receipts being
made out for chemicals other than those he bought.

Also in September 2002, Samudra and Ali Imron conducted surveillance in
Bali
of locations frequented by foreigners. They noted the Sari Club and Paddy's
Pub
were particularly popular, and Samudra decided they would be the targets.

Mukhlas ordered Samudra to also arrange for a bomb to be exploded outside
the US Consulate in Bali on the same night, so there could be no doubt the
nightclub bombings were linked to the policies of America.

"After purchasing a motorcycle on September 12, 2002, approximately, I, in
company of Samudra, rode the motorbike to survey the locations to be the
targets
of the bomb explosion, including Legian St, by sitting around on the footpath
outside the Sari Club and Paddy's Pub and walking around these locations,"
Imron
said.

Samudra met Amrozi and Idris at Amrozi's house in Tenggulun on September
25,
2002 for a report.

Amrozi told him that the vehicle and chemicals had been bought.

Samudra then ordered that the chemicals bought by Amrozi be sent to Bali.

They decided to send them by night bus in 50kg packages to avoid
suspicion,
with the first lot being put on a Bali-bound bus on September 27, and the last
on October 2.

It was Idris' job to collect each consignment of chemicals from the Bali
bus
terminal.

"On October 3 in the afternoon, I received an SMS message from Samudra
saying that the chemicals had arrived in Bali and he also asked to quickly
send
the L300 to Bali," Amrozi said.

Amrozi, travelling with Dulmatin, Ali Imron and others, left Tenggulun
village for Bali on October 5, 2002 using the L300 and a green Suzuki Vitara,
buying plastic four-drawer filing cabinets on the way that would later be used
to form the bomb casing.

They arrived at the Hotel Harum in Denpasar at 11pm on October 6, where
Samudra was waiting to greet them.

Samudra organised a meeting the next day at 18 Manjangan St in Denpasar,
which he and Imron had rented the previous month specifically to make the
bombs
in.

Those attending included Samudra, Amrozi, Mukhlas, Imron, Idris, Dulmatin,
Abdul Ghani, Umar Kecil and Dr Azahari.

They discussed the Bali bombing plan in detail and how the bombs, under
the
guidance of Dr Azahari and Dulmatin, were coming along.

The meeting was told the chemicals were being mixed by hand by Sawad,
Abdul
Ghani and Ali Imron and others, and placed in the 48 drawers of 12 plastic
filing cabinets.

Those cabinets were to be bolted to the false floor of the L300, three
wide
and four deep.

Another filing cabinet drawer, filled with TNT, would be placed next to
them
to act as a booster charge to ignite the main bomb.

Mukhlas visited Bali in early October to check on the plans and he was
introduced to the two suicide bombers recruited by Rauf and Samudra.

The other bombers knew them as Arnasan and Feri but they were using
aliases
of Jimi and Iqbal in Bali.

Jimi asked Mukhlas if he could write his last will and testament.

"I said he could," Mukhlas said.

"Then he asked my opinion about its contents regarding asking for
forgiveness from his family and friends and proclaiming the spread of jihad to
young Muslims to wage holy war. I replied that this was fine."

Jimi, 22, the son of a poor rice farmer from the West Java village of
Malingping, revealed in his will that he was a member of the underground Darul
Islam movement.

D ARUL Islam, often known as DI or more recently NII, standing for
Indonesian Islamic State, is committed to establishing an Islamic state in
Indonesia -- a goal it shares with the terrorist group JI.

Jimi used his will to encourage his friends to join his fight against the
Christian Cross by also spilling their blood to become martyrs.

"Today there is so much work that must be completed for the sake of the
struggle, and pray that my martyrdom will be the trigger for the growth of the
mujahidin," he wrote in a will addressed to 21 people in Malingping, including
several religious leaders.

"And today I prove that I am a child of DI/NII who is ready to sacrifice
his
life for Islam. If you all truly want to build a return to glory the NII that
today is buried, pour your blood out in order that you are not all ashamed
before God, who recognises the children of DI/NII.

"Stir your troops, don't be lulled into sleep. Prepare and crush the
forces
of the cross, shoulder to shoulder. Arouse the passion of the mujahidin in
Malingping."

In a second will addressed to his parents and siblings, Jimi asked that
his
clothes be given to the poor.

"Accept this last will and testament from me and again, don't be shocked,"
he wrote. "Mother, again, pray for me so I will fight to defend Islam. I want
Jihad to defend Islam, which is crushed by non-believers.

"I only ask for prayers from Mother, Father so that in order that I Sahid
(die in the care of Islam)."

Mukhlas said Jimi and Iqbal told him they had agreed to become martyrs
after
dreaming they had visited Afghanistan and been embraced by Osama bin Laden.

"And were asked by Sheik Osama bin Laden: 'Do you want to die as
martyrs?' "
Mukhlas said.

"They then were instructed by him to go to the river and bathe with the
mujahidin and they did so. He stated there were many mujahidin there and the
water was very clean."

Mukhlas said they told him that after that dream they became even more
convinced about becoming suicide bombers and martyrs.

Several members of the bomb team left Bali a few days before the October
12
bombing, returning to their homes to establish alibis.

Only Samudra, Imron and Idris, plus the two suicide bombers Jimi and
Iqbal,
stayed in Bali to execute the bombings.

Mukhlas left Bali on October 9 -- the day his grand plan came dangerously
close to coming unstuck.

"After afternoon prayers there was an explosion at the room where the bomb
was being assembled, causing the neighbours to come outside the house at the
time," Imron said.

The neighbour asked Imron and Idris what the noise had been and Idris said
he thought either a balloon or car tyre had burst.

"It was actually caused because the remnants of the chemical ingredients
on
the tiles were scraped, which resulted in an explosion," Imron said.

The plastic filing cabinets containing the Sari Club bomb chemicals were
what had been scraped across the tiles, which could easily have resulted in
the
house being blown up. The neighbour could just as easily have reported the
explosion to police.

Idris, Ali Imron and Amrozi bought a Yamaha FZ1R motorcycle from a dealer
on
October 10, 2002, with the intention of using it to place the much smaller
bomb
at the US consulate in Renon, a Denpasar suburb.

Later that day, Imron met the two suicide bombers Jimi and Iqbal.

"My aim in meeting them was to show them the targets of the bombing. Iqbal
at Paddy's and Jimi outside the Sari," Imron said.

"Iqbal was to wear the bomb vest and enter Paddy's as a suicide bomber,
Jimi
was to explode the car bomb outside the Sari Club as a suicide bomber.

"I was invited by Idris to test Jimi driving the vehicle in Legian St,
Kuta
to practice for the explosion that was to take place on October 12.

"That work was carried out on Friday night."

To his horror, Imron discovered Jimi could hardly drive in a straight
line,
let alone turn corners.

A quick change of plan was made so that Imron would drive the bomb vehicle
to within a short distance of the Sari Club before handing the wheel over to
Jimi for the last 400m or so.

I MRON spent the rest of that final Friday night installing three
switches
under the seat of the motorcycle bought specifically to deliver the bomb to
the
US consulate.

One switch was to kill the engine, another was to kill the brake light and
the third was to kill the back light.

The plan was for Imron to ride the bike to the US consulate, flick the
engine kill switch to fake a breakdown and place the small bomb while leaning
down pretending to see what was wrong with the engine.

Switches to kill the brake and rear lights were in case Imron was pursued
from the scene.

Jimi and Iqbal were picked up by Imron at noon on Saturday October 12 and
taken to the house in Manjangan St, where the bombs were made and kept.

"I taught Iqbal how to use the vest and the switch to explode it, and Jimi
the use of the switch that was in a box system that was to explode the L300,
as
I had been taught by Dulmatin," Imron said.

"Afterwards I ordered Iqbal and Jimi to repeat and practise what I had
told
them.

"After I felt that they had studied enough, after sunset prayer, we rested
until 1900 and I ordered Jimi and Iqbal to prepare to carry out suicide
bombing."

Imron reported in to Samudra at 8pm, at Samudra's rented accommodation in
Pinang St, that the bombers and the bombs were ready.

"I returned to the house in Manjangan St at 20.45," Imron said.

"I left using the FZ1R motorcycle with the bomb that had already been
linked
to a remote hand phone and had been packaged in a plastic bag."

Imron rode with one hand on the handlebars and the other clutching the 5kg
bomb, which was balanced on the front seat of the motorbike.

He did his "bike has broken down" trick using the engine-killing switch he
had previously installed.

After placing the bomb on the footpath outside the US consulate in Renon,
Imron rode back to the Manjangan St house.

He then told Jimi and Iqbal to get into the L300, with Iqbal clutching the
vest bomb he was going to wear.

Jimi's appalling driving skills resulted in him being told to sit next to
Imron while Imron drove the 12.5km from the house to within 400m of the Sari
Club.

Iqbal sat next to Jimi while Imron slowly drove the van, which was weighed
down by the 1.1 tonne bomb.

"I ordered Iqbal to put on the vest that contained the bomb and ordered
Jimi
to join the cables from the detonator to the switch," Imron said.

"We were already close to the T-intersection with Legian St. Jimi and
Iqbal
were ready.

"At the T-intersection I parked on the left side around 30m from the
T-intersection. I then got out of the vehicle and Jimi took my place."

Idris had accompanied the bomb vehicle on the motorbike. Imron joined him
on
the bike and the pair rode off towards Denpasar.

"Myself and Idris stopped on the side of the street, but still on the
motorcycle," Imron said.

"Then Idris exploded the bomb that was in Renon (the US consulate) with
his
hand phone."

The purpose of the Renon bomb was simply to make an anti-US statement. It
did very little damage and injured no one.

Meanwhile, Jimi illegally parked the L300 outside the Sari Club on the
right
hand side of busy Legian St.

Iqbal got out and started walking towards Paddy's Pub.

Jimi locked all the doors from the inside and put the steering wheel into
the locked position.

Vehicles following him down the busy one-way street couldn't get past the
L300 because of cars correctly parked on the left hand side of Legian St.

Walking bomb Iqbal sauntered into Paddy's Pub about the same time as the
Renon device went off outside the US Consulate.

He made his way through the more than 150 people and while standing about
2m
from the DJ's podium he flicked the switch to explode the vest bomb he was
wearing.

Panic and pandemonium ensued.

Jimi, as instructed, waited just long enough for patrons to be fleeing out
of Paddy's Pub and towards the Sari Club before detonating the devastating
bomb
he was sitting in.

SEEK HELP

THE Bali bombing anniverary might arouse feelings of anxiety or grief.
These
helplines and websites offer assistance:

Specialist counselling service:

BALI Support Service (Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital): 9496 2208

Telephone counselling:

GRIEFLINE: 9596 7799

LIFELINE: 131114 and www.lifeline.org.au

CARE Ring: 136169 and www.carering.org.au

PARENTLINE: 132289

KIDS Help Line: 1800 551 800 and kidshelp.com.au

Counselling referral services:

NATIONAL Association for Grief and Loss: 9351 0358 and www.nalagvic.org.au

Private support networks

www.balisupport.com

www.zero-to-one.org

www.the compassionate friends.org.au -- friendship group for bereaved
family
members.

General help

www.baliassist.gov.au

RED Cross - 1800 999 411 or redcross.org.au

www.dhs.vic.gov.au/emergency

HEALTH & Insurance Commission: 1800 660 026 -- Financial support.

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