Indonesian authorities visit Bali bombers' families

Jakarta - Indonesian officials on Friday told the families of three Muslim militants on death row for the 2002 Bali bombings to be prepared for the executions.

Imam Samudra, Amrozi, known also as the "smiling assassin" and his brother Mukhlas, alias Ali Ghufron, will each face a firing squad over their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign visitors.

Indonesia does not announce the specific date or time of executions, but the attorney general's office has said the three condemned militants would be executed in early November.

Ali Fauzi, a brother of Amrozi and Mukhlas, confirmed that a team of the local prosecutors and police officers conveyed a letter from the attorney general's office and asked about the family's readiness for the execution.

Jafar Chosim, another brother of the two on death row, declined to explain the contents of the letter, but stressed that the family was "proud of both Amrozi and Mukhlas," adding that the family had already planned for their funeral.

A separate team of officials visited the family of Imam Samudra's house in West Java's Serang district on late Thursday for a similar purpose, local media reports said.

Meanwhile, locals unfurled a huge banner saying "Pray together for the safety of our brother Imam Samudra," expressing their support to the militant bomber. They are also demanding the execution of Imam Samudra be canceled, reported the state-run Antara news agency.

Security has been tight across the world's most Muslim-populous nation in recent days ahead of the executions amid threats to assassinate the president and other high-ranking government officials, as well as bomb threats against the US and Australian embassies.

Muslim militants have protested at the home village of the brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas in East Java and elsewhere, including Jakarta, shouting calls for jihad and threats against the Indonesian government.

Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas have been on death row since 2003, when a Bali court sentenced them to death for their roles in the nightclub bombings. None of the bombers have shown any remorse for the attacks.

At the prison on Nusakambangan Island, off the southern coast of central Java, local media reported that three wooden poles - to which a condemned man's hands are usually tied behind his back - were being set up on Wednesday a few kilometres from where they are being held.

The families of the bombers say they have mailed a letter to the president following media reports that the executions were imminent.

Indonesia usually executes convicts by firing squad in undisclosed locations in the middle of the night. The prisoners are told at least three days in advance but there is no obligation to tell the families. (dpa)

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