Denpasar, Sept 04: Key Bali bomb blast suspect Mukhlas today said he is only a small fry in the terrorism world, despite the death of 202 people in the attack, and the real "big fishes" are the US, British and Israeli leaders.
Mukhlas, who could face a firing squad if convicted of authorising last October's blasts, devoted much of his defence plea to a wide-ranging attack on the western leaders.
"These big fishes in terrorism are the one who conducted extraordinary crimes against humanity," Mukhlas told the court, naming US President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
They waged terrorism in various fields, including religion, the economy, politics and the military.
"They are the ones who made Muslims no longer go to the mosque, Christians never go to the church and Hindus never go to the temple but rather choose to go to places which offer to satiate lust," said Mukhlas, alias Ali Gufron.
"They made people no longer know anything else but lust."
Police say Mukhlas is an operations chief of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the al-Qaeda linked regional terror group blamed for the Bali blasts and for a string of other bloody
attacks.
JI's motive in bombing two nightclubs packed with western tourists on the resort island was to avenge attacks against Muslims in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
Bureau Report
