INDONESIA: The suspected mastermind of the Bali bombings used his day in court yesterday to thank Indonesian prosecutors for demanding a death sentence and said execution by firing squad would bring him closer to God.
As Imam Samudra expressed defiance, momentum grew within the government to impose draconian security laws to fight terrorism after last week's bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.
Police said they had a list of suspects, and their investigation was homing in on two bomb-makers of the Jemaah Islamiah group.
Imam Samudra, a 33-year-old Muslim computer expert, spoke to a court that less than a week ago sentenced the "smiling bomber", Amrozi, to death for his role in the bombings of two Bali nightclubs that killed 202 people last October.
Amrozi, a disciple of the radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, suspected spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group blamed for the Bali attacks, appealed his conviction yesterday. He had said he would welcome martyrdom. Imam Samudra, too, said he would welcome such a death.
"I'd like to say thank you to the prosecution team, which has demanded the death sentence. Because in death we live peacefully, and in death we draw near to God," he told the court.
Wearing the loose white shirt and skull cap he favours to distinguish him as a Muslim believer, he began his statement by reciting verses in Arabic from the Koran.
"I'm ready to die a martyr," he shouted as he was led from the courtroom. His trial resumes on Thursday.
Political analysts say prosecutors' demands for tough sentences mean the world's most populous Muslim nation wants to show it is serious about tackling Islamic militancy, especially after the bombing of the US-run Marriott Hotel.
Gen Endriartono Sutarto, the military chief who is close to President Megawati Sukarnoputri, backed calls from ministers for a tough internal security law.
He told reporters an escalation of terrorist acts in Indonesia could only be dealt with through an internal security act. Such laws exist in nearby Singapore and Malaysia.
Like other Bali accused, Imam Samudra and Amrozi were students of the elderly Bashir, on trial in Jakarta for treason linked to his alleged leadership of JI, which is seen as the south-east Asian arm of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.
Prosecutors will make their demand for sentencing in that case today, and Bashir faces a life term.
Samudra used his testimony to deny that he took part last September in three planning meetings for the Bali attack, saying he was present only at one.
The one-time chicken butcher and perfume seller has admitted involvement in the nightclub attacks, saying he wanted to wage war on the United States, but denies being the ground commander.