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July 4, 2006

Indonesia: The Rules Of The Game For Islamist Murder

On the evening of Saturday October 1 last year on the island of Bali, three suicide bombers detonated their explosives in restaurants - one in downtown Kuta (pictured left) and two at restaurants on the seafront at Jimbaran beach. Twenty people died, but only five of these were tourists.

The pictures of the severed heads of the killers were later released, in the hope that those who perpetrated the atrocities could be identified. We reproduce those at the foot of this article (warning - graphic content).

As soon as the bombs happened, there were suspicions that the ringleaders who stage-managed the atrocities could be, on account of the style of their handiwork, Malaysia-born Azahari bin Husin (pictured below right), known as the "bombmaker" or "demolition man" and Noordin Mohammed Top.

Azahari had studied in Australia and also in Britain at Reading University (where he gained a doctorate in geophysics) before going to Afghanistan in the late 1990s. There he became a jihadist and studied manufacture of explosives. He produced a terror manual for the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, which ran to 50 pages, in which he discussed how to manufacture bombs.

Azahari was tracked down to a hideout in the village of Batu at Malang, in East Java, where on November 9 2005, Indonesian security forces from a unit called Detachment 8 engaged in a gun battle. In the shack in which Azahari was holed up was an accomplice. After half an hour of shooting, there was a massive explosion, and then silence. It was initially thought that Azahari had blown himself up, rather than be captured. However, it appears that Arman, the accomplice, had set of the bomb which blew the tin roof off the shack.

The corpse of Azahari was found, with a single bullet to the heart, while Arman was in pieces. Material was recovered from his hideout, such as a video which showed Noordin Mohammed Top threatening the West with more bomb attacks, and also the three young bombers of Bali. One of these, Muhammad Salik Firdaus, gave a farewell message to his relatives: "My brother and wife, God willing, when you see this recording I'll already be in heaven."

Noordin Top was tracked to his lair near Wonosobo, Central Java on April 29, but he escaped and is still a fugitive.

Now, news from the New York Times and the Telegraph reports on the contents of a document found on a computer in Azahari bin Husin's hideout.

The document describes the modus operandi of the Bali operation, and the meticulous attention to detail which went into planning the attacks. Dr Sidney Jones, the (woman) director of the southeast Asia branch of the International Crisis Group, and probably the world's foremost expert on Jemaah Islamiyah, said: "It tells us that these guys tried to think of every contingency. Even when they're being hunted, they had the capacity to think through what had to be done right down to the second."

The document is called "The Bali Project" and is 34 pages long, divided into six sections. It starts with Azahari asking some questions: "Why Bali?" is asked, and he answers that it will create a "global impact". Azahari states: "Bali is known around the world, better than Indonesia itself. An attack in Bali will be covered by the international media."

He notes in Section 2, "Method of Attack" that Bali 2005 must be different from Bali 2002, where on October 12 at Kuta, 202 people were killed by suicide bombers. 88 of the victims were Australian tourists. We announced yesterday that three of those who took part in Bali 2002 and were sentenced to death (Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron aka Mukhlas) will soon be executed.

Azahari notes that since 2002, security was now tighter, with an increase of intelligence personnel up from 70 to 256. A truck had been bought by Amrozi for the attack of 2002, but Azahari notes that it would be too risky to involve a truck in Bali 2005. SImilarly, instead of renting a house in which to assemble the necessary bombs, the bomb(s) would have to be smaller, and brought into the island, ready to go.

Azahari specifies that the targets must be Westerners. He states: "Any white person is a target. Avoid hotels because they are too well protected. Carry the bombs in small knapsacks to avoid suspicion. And don't worry about your escape route because you will become a 'martyr'."

McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King and KFC food outlets were considered as venues for killing, as well as theaters, a golf course, art galleries, tattoo parlours, and souvenir stalls.

The victims should be "foreign tourists from America and its allies", but Azahari stated that with the difficulty of identifying specific nationalities: "We will consider all white people the enemy."

The document recommended that the three bombers should do reconnaissance of the chosen target venues, to become acquainted with their targets. Azahari recommended, after the men consulted with him from, that the men should avoid taxis, as drivers may notice their heavy rucksacks. Motorccle taxis were advised, as here, drivers could not talk to their clients. Discos were ruled out as potential targets, as the knapsacks would stand out in the evening after 9 pm.

So the choice of venue became narrowed down to restaurants, with simultaneous bombs at two places to "have greater effect than simultaneous attacks in one location". The seafood restaurants at the shore at Jimbaran were chosen because businessmen often frequented these, and their demise "will have a greater impact than of young people." Azahari wrote: "Of all the places, this may be the easiest, Allah willing."

The timing for the bombings was set for 7.34 pm, when the restaurants would be full. After noting the specific time, Azahari wrote "Allahu Akbar" - "Allah is great."

The planning of the attacks was so precise that it even gave the bombers twenty minutes in which to pray. The clothes to be worn by the bombers was also considered, with the recommended uniform given as black shirts, below-the-knee shorts or jeans, and with footwear being sandals or trainers.

At the end of the document, after his three lackeys had complied with his instructions, Azahari notes: "We tried to minimise the impact on Muslims. Nevertheless, there were still Muslim victims killed."

WARNING - Graphic content below

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at July 4, 2006 5:15 PM

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