Bali bombers executed

Tom Allard and Ben Doherty
November 9, 2008 - 1:40PM

Mukhlas, Samudra and Amrozi were executed on their prison island at midnight, local time.

The three Bali bombers on death row have been executed by firing squad.

Imam Samudra and brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas were shot to death by separate firing squads at 12.15am Indonesian time, an Indonesian Government spokesman has confirmed.

The executions come six years after the Kuta nightclub explosions that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Family members of the bombers were informed of the execution by Ali Fauzi, the brother of Mukhlas and Amrozi.

Ali Fauzi headed to the prison island of Nusakambangan by boat about 5.30am Sydney time to oversee the religious rights on the bodies.

He sent a text message to relatives in Arabic saying "they are with the Almighty''.

A source in the prison told Agence France-Presse they shouted "Allahu Akbar'' ("God is great") as they were escorted out of their isolation cells by paramilitary police just before their executions.

In a statement on behalf of the family of Mukhlas and Amrozi, elder brother Chozin said: "We hope the spirit of my brothers Amrozi and Ali Ghufron (Mukhlas) will be taken by green birds to paradise."

The bullets will be removed from the bodies and autopsies performed before the bodies are cleaned and wrapped in traditional Muslim cloth in preparartion for burial.

The men's bodies are expected to be flown by helicopter today from the prison island to their home towns.

Amrozi and Mukhlas are from the small village Tenggulun in East Java. Imam Samudra comes from Serang in West Java.

The bombers' funerals are expected to be held within hours of their bodies arriving home.

The presence of police has been stepped up across Indonesia amid threats of attacks in Bali and in Jakarta shopping malls. Most terrorism analysts believe it's unlikely there will be a major attack but agree there is a risk of mob violence and clashes involving hardline supporters of the trio.

The Federal Government has issued an updated travel warning for Bali, saying it has 'credible' information about the possibility of reprisal attacks for the executions.

The executions follow years of legal challenges to the death sentences, which were handed down in 2003.

Right up until their final days, the killers showed no remorse and used the media to claim to be warriors of Islam and predict a wave of attacks against Westerners following their deaths.

Mukhlas was convicted of approving, inciting, financing and carrying out the bombings, while his younger brother Amrozi bought the van and a ton of chemicals used in the explosion, and attended planning sessions for the attacks.

Samudra was the operational field commander for the bombings.

In the lead-up to the executions, survivors of the attacks and family members of those lost had mixed feelings about the trio being sentenced to death.

Some felt the bombers' deaths would bring closure for still-grieving relatives, while others felt it would elevate Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra to martyrdom.

David "Spike" Stewart, whose son Anthony died in the nightclub attacks, has said he would be happy to pull the trigger on the firing squad rifle.

"I'd check the rifle to make sure I wasn't given the blank," he said earlier this year.

Leanne Woodgate, from Port Melbourne, who was badly burnt with her sister in Paddy's Bar, said: "I'll believe it when it actually happens. I hope it's soon ... it will help because they ruined my life."

But Sydney man John Mavroudis, whose son David was one of six Coogee Dolphins players killed, said he "couldn't care less" about the bombers. "I don't give a damn about them really ... we just try and get on with our lives."