Bali Bombers Said Part of Earlier Plot

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Two confessed organizers of an Oct. 12 terrorist bombing in Bali targeted Christian priests for assassination last year in a plan directed by alleged Jemaah Islamiah leader Abu Bakar Bashir, according to a statement by a captured operative.

The two admitted Bali bombers, who use the names Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, also participated with Bashir in efforts to establish a six-nation terror network extending from Indonesia to Myanmar, according to a confidential Nov. 1 document summarizing the confession of Faiz bin Abu Bakar Bafana.

Bafana’s statement to authorities in Singapore, which was reviewed by The Times, depicts Jemaah Islamiah as a highly organized militant group that is committed to the formation of an Islamic nation in Southeast Asia and has numerous plans for terrorist actions.

Bafana also alleged that Bashir has been associated for years with the two bombers and discussed specific plans for violence that involved them.

A Malaysian leader of Jemaah Islamiah, Bafana was arrested in Singapore last year after authorities uncovered the group’s alleged plan to attack the U.S. Embassy and six other targets there with suicide truck bombers. Earlier, Bafana helped organize bombings in Manila, officials say.

Singapore authorities have declined to reveal all the targets of the planned attack there, but another confidential document reviewed by The Times says the group’s hit list included the U.S. naval shipyard, the Bank of America headquarters and the American Club, a popular hangout for expatriate Americans in the center of Singapore.

Indonesian police arrested Bashir in October, alleging that he played a role in a series of deadly church bombings on Christmas Eve 2000, a plot to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the bombing of Indonesia’s national Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta, the capital. He has not been charged in connection with the Bali bombing, which killed at least 191 people on the popular tourist island.

The radical 64-year-old cleric denies any role in terrorist activity and contends that Jemaah Islamiah does not exist. But he praises Osama bin Laden and says Muslims have a duty to defend Islam if it is under attack.

Although authorities apparently did not become aware of Jemaah Islamiah’s existence until last year, the clandestine organization was established at least a decade ago to promote the formation of an Islamic state from the territory of several Southeast Asian nations.

It has been affiliated with the Al Qaeda terror network since the early 1990s, when Jemaah Islamiah founder Abdullah Sungkar met Bin Laden, according to the recent book “Inside Al Qaeda” by Rohan Gunaratna.

Authorities say Bashir has headed Jemaah Islamiah since the 1999 death of Sungkar, his close friend.

Under questioning in Singapore, Bafana told authorities that he met with Bashir in the Indonesian city of Solo last year to discuss terror plans.

“Bashir asked Faiz [Bafana] to hatch a plan to assassinate President Megawati and to carry out attacks on priests who would be holding a meeting in [the city of] Manado,” according to Bafana’s interrogation.

His statement is consistent with the September confession of Omar Faruq, an Al Qaeda operative arrested in Indonesia who told authorities that Bashir was involved in plots to assassinate Megawati and in the bombing of churches and the national mosque. At a meeting in April 2001, Bashir warned Bafana to minimize any risk to bystanders when targeting the Christian clerics, according to Bafana’s account.

“Bashir instructed Faiz to continue their programs targeting Christian priests with caution [and] hit their targets with accuracy to avoid casualty from the civilians,” the document said.

Bafana said surveillance for the attacks on priests was conducted by Samudra, whose real name is Abdul Aziz. Mukhlas, a top Jemaah Islamiah leader whose name is Ali Gufron, directed him to pick up a diskette from Samudra containing reports on the priests.

According to their own confessions to Indonesian police, Mukhlas oversaw the Bali bombing while Samudra served as the field coordinator.

It is unclear whether any of the planned attacks on priests were carried out in 2001, but Jemaah Islamiah bombed the homes of four pastors the year before during the church bombings that killed 18 people.

Indonesian intelligence officials say that key Jemaah Islamiah members, including Mukhlas and Samudra, were among the radicals who went to Afghanistan during the 1980s to fight the Soviet military or during the 1990s to aid the Taliban.

One official said 272 Indonesian moujahedeen survived the fighting and returned home. Today they make up an informal network known as Group 272, or G272, and form the backbone of militant groups in Indonesia. Many were trained in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and belong to the international terror network as well as organizations in Indonesia.

Foremost among the Indonesian moujahedeen, authorities say, is Riduan Isamuddin, better known as Hambali, a leading Al Qaeda member who has served as Jemaah Islamiah’s operations leader and is in hiding. They say he helped set in motion the Bali attack, the Singapore bomb plot, the Christmas Eve bombings in Indonesia and a string of bombings in Manila that killed 22.

Bafana said Hambali was present at the Istiqlal mosque when it was bombed in 1999. The attack apparently was aimed at inciting religious conflict between Muslims and Christians.

Authorities say Al Qaeda has dispatched a number of operatives to Southeast Asia to aid in organizing terror activities. In September, Indonesian authorities arrested suspected Al Qaeda member Seyam Reda, an Arab with German citizenship.

Authorities suspect Reda gave money and orders to Faruq, the Al Qaeda operative arrested in June. Earlier this year, Reda transferred $74,000 to Aris Mundandar, one of Bashir’s top lieutenants, according to an Indonesian intelligence official. Mundandar has not been seen since Reda’s arrest, associates said.

According to Bafana’s statement, Bashir convened three meetings in Malaysia in 1999 and 2000 of extremist leaders in Southeast Asia to form the Rabitatul Moujahedeen, or Moujahedeen League, in the hope of coordinating terror activities in the region. Since 2000, there is no indication that the group has been active.

Bafana called the organization “the brainchild of Bashir and Hambali,” the statement said. The participants included Mukhlas, Singapore Jemaah Islamiah leader Ibrahim bin Maidin, Indonesian militant Agus Dwikarna and Malaysian extremist leader Nik Adli Nik Abdul Azis. All four have been arrested on terror-related charges.

The league’s first meeting was held at a house Bafana owned in Selangor, Malaysia. Samudra, who is known for his computer skills, was present to help out but did not attend the leadership sessions, Bafana said.

According to Bafana’s statement, two top Al Qaeda leaders, Mohammed Atef and Ayman Zawahiri, were sent to Indonesia by Bin Laden in mid-2000 to find possible sites for the relocation of Al Qaeda operations.

They met various extremist leaders in Indonesia and may have inspired Bashir and Hambali to have the Moujahedeen League issue a decree calling for attacks in the Philippines, according to the statement.