Long overdue.

Bali protesters storm jail where bombers held


Some 1,000 protesters stormed a prison where some convicted Bali bombers are being held, shouting for their deaths on the third anniversary of the attacks on the Indonesian island.

The angry demonstrators at Denpasar's Kerobokan jail managed to remove the prison's main steel door from its hinges but police stopped them getting inside, an AFP correspondent reported on Wednesday.

"Kill Amrozi, kill Amrozi!" the crowd yelled, referring to one of three people sentenced to death by firing squad for the 2002 nightclub bombings which killed 202 people.

Amrozi and the other two on death row, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas, had been transferred the previous day to a high-security island prison off neighbouring Java island following earlier angry protests.

The confrontation was temporarily defused by the arrival of a group of traditional musicians from a nearby village, who positioned themselves between police and protesters.

But the shouting, drum-beating crowd had not yet dispersed.

One demonstrator tied a banner on the prison wall reading: "Hello SBY (Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudyoyono). Kill the person who has hurt Bali (Amrozi)."

Three rows of police armed with batons and shields stood outside the prison's main entrance but did not immediately try to disperse the crowd.

Passions were running high on Wednesday, the third anniversary of the 2002 blasts, and in the wake of October 1 bombings which killed 20 people plus three suicide attackers on the island.

"Kill Amrozi now!" yelled some protesters.

"We are angry he has been moved from here," said Endra, 30.

"We feel Amrozi is being protected by the government. Balinese are very angry."

Amrozi was dubbed the "smiling bomber" for his courtroom demeanour which particularly enraged the residents of Bali, a Hindu enclave in mainly Muslim Indonesia.

Some members of the crowd said they had received an anonymous mobile phone message about four days ago, calling on people to come to the jail to demand the execution of the Bali bombers.

"I knew of the protest from my friends but what is important is that I came here of my own free will," said Arya, a motorcycle taxi driver.

"What does the head of the jail want? Without any explanation, he secretly moved Amrozi away."

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/051012/1/3vlcs.html

Stop terrorism? That's the way to do it. Getting troops to hunt down the terrorists is just a superficial response to a deep-rooted problem. But when their own people are crying out for their blood, that's another story. If this sentiment spreads, then the days of large-scale terrorism in Indonesia are clearly numbered..

Long overdue i would say.

-wx-