Indonesia executes three Bali bombers

Jakarta, Nov 9 (DPA) Indonesia early Sunday executed three Muslim militants convicted for their roles in the 2002 bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, media reports said.

Imam Samudra, 38 and brothers Amrozi, 46, and Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, 48, were executed simultaneously by firing squads shortly after midnight Saturday, Jasman Panjaitan, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said.

The execution took place on Nusakambangan Island off the southern coast of Java where the men were being held, the TvOne channel said, citing an anonymous source.

The Detik.com online news service reported from the port town of Cilacap near Nusakambangan island that the bodies of the three men were brought to nearby clinic for autopsy after they were confirmed dead by doctors supervising the execution.

The report quoted an unnamed source as saying the bodies would be flown in by helicopter to the mens' hometowns for burial.

The three convicts have been on death row since 2003, when a Bali court sentenced them to death for their roles in the bombing of nightclubs in tourist Kuta district.

None of the bombers have shown any remorse for the attacks.

In the hometowns of the Ghufrons in east Java district of Lamongan, as well as at Samudra's residence in west Java's Serang district town, dozens of their supporters shouted 'Allahu Akbar!' (God is Great), witnesses said.

Hours before the execution, Ali Fauzi - the Ghufrons' brother, arrived on Nusakambangan to take care of his brothers' bodies.

Indonesian authorities repeatedly postponed plans to execute the three while thier attorneys filed repeated legal appeals, including demands for a judicial review in a bid to delay their execution.

The three were members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional terrorist network responsible for several bombings across Indonesia.

These included simultaneous church bombings on Christmas Eve 2000, bombings on Bali in 2002 and 2005, the bombing of the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2004 and an attack on the Australian embassy in 2005.