Bali bombings were God's will: defiant Bashir

From today's Sydney Morning Herald

THE deaths of more than 220 people in terrorist attacks on Bali were "God's will" and the bombers were not killers as they were only acting as God's means, says the freed leader of Indonesia's radical Muslims, Abu Bakar Bashir.

He has also rebuffed demands by the Prime Minister, John Howard, that Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, monitor his activities and restrict his movements.

On the veranda of his home inside the inner sanctum of his Ngruki Islamic boarding school near the central Java city of Solo, Bashir made outspoken comments to a group of journalists yesterday afternoon, after his release from prison on Wednesday.

Bashir served less than 26 months for terrorist conspiracy after being found guilty of blessing the first Bali bombings as a founder and leader of the terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah.

Mr Howard said Australians were disgusted by Bashir's release. He wrote to Dr Yudhoyono yesterday requesting Bashir be monitored, his assets frozen and movements restricted.

Bashir said Australia could not interfere in Indonesia's affairs.

Asked for his response to the Australian families of the Bali bomb victims, Bashir said they should convert to Islam so Allah could comfort them. "If they are still non-Muslim, well, it needs to be understood that it is God's will. The ones who killed their families are not the bombers. They are just the means."

Bashir said he planned to visit his "Muslim brother" Amrozi, the most senior convicted perpetrator of the 2002 Bali bombings, who is now on death row.

Early yesterday, beside a banner stating "be a good Muslim or die", Bashir rallied more than 1000 followers on returning to his school, urging them to become fanatics to ensure Islam wins its "war" with the West.

The hardline cleric's tumultuous homecoming and defiant statements encapsulated the fears of Washington and Canberra that his release could revitalise extremists and inspire more terrorist attacks.