2005 Bali Bombings - Suspects

Suspects

The attacks bear the hallmarks of the active terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which is believed to be responsible for several bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali nightclub bombing, the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing and the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing. Rohan Gunaratna, head of terrorism research at Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, told Agence France-Presse that "The only group that has the intention and capability to mount a coordinated and simultaneous attack against a western target in Indonesia is Jemaah Islamiyah."

Although a link to JI has not been confirmed, the bombings were quickly condemned as terrorist attacks by the authorities. Police Major General Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian anti-terrorism official, told the Associated Press that the bombings "were clearly the work of terrorists". Major General Mbai identified Malaysian men, already wanted in connection to previous bombings in Indonesia, as the suspected masterminds of the attacks. The chief suspect was Azahari Husin, a member of JI who was an engineering expert and former academic with a doctorate from University of Reading (late 1980s). Husin was nicknamed the "Demolition Man" and was thought to have collaborated with the second suspect: Noordin Mohammed Top, a bomb maker whose wife was sentenced to three years in prison for harbouring him. Azahari was killed in a police raid in November 2005, while Noordin "has been killed after a lengthy and violent siege, Indonesia's police chief said" by "heavily armed counter-terrorism police" on 16 September 2009. Motivations for the bombings remain unclear. Some, such as the Australian Prime Minister, have suggested the attacks were intended to undermine Indonesia's moderate democratic government. Moreover, media organisations have suggested that the attack was planned to correspond with massive fuel price increases in Indonesia, so as to maximise economic and political damage. On the contrary, Dr Sidney Jones, of the International Crisis Group, believes that it was not an attempt to undermine democracy "per se", but rather an example of jihadist extremism: "I think they very much see the world in a black and white way, us against them, Muslims against infidels... that the infidels led by the United States as part of a Christian-Zionist conspiracy are out to persecute and attack and eliminate Muslims around the world, and therefore, have to run away." However, in common with the Prime Minister, Dr Jones believes the attack was indiscriminate and not an attack on Australians "per se". She suggested Bali was selected as the site of the attacks because there was less chance of Indonesian gangsters being killed, and there was "a chance of getting a few foreigners".

Following the attacks Abu Bakar Bashir, who is alleged to be JI's spiritual leader, released a statement from his prison cell, condemning the attack. But he added that the bombings were a sign of God's displeasure with the Indonesian government. He said: "I suggest the government bring themselves closer to God by implementing his rules and laws because these happenings are warnings from God for all of us." In an interview with Scott Atran from his cell in Cipinang Prison, Jakarta, Bashir said: "I call those who carried out these actions all mujahid. They all had a good intention, that is, Jihad in Allah’s way, the aim of the jihad is to look for blessing from Allah. They are right that America is the proper target because America fights Islam. So in terms of their objectives, they are right, and the target of their attacks was right also.