Defiant Bali bomber sentenced to death

An Indonesian Muslim militant dubbed the smiling bomber was sentenced to death yesterday for his part in last year's deadly nightclub attacks that killed 202 on the resort island of Bali.

After the sentence was announced, a defiant Amrozi swivelled his chair to the courtroom to face victims as well as relatives of those killed, smiled broadly and made a thumbs-up sign with both hands.

Families of several British victims said they planned to appeal the death sentence to prevent Amrozi becoming a martyr to inspire extremists.

"Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest)," Amrozi shouted twice, punching his fist in the air after the judge read his sentence for plotting, organising and carrying out crimes of terror in relation to the October 12 nightclub blasts.

Australian victims hugged and kissed each other as the chief judge pronounced the verdict on Amrozi, a 40-year-old mechanic from central Java island. Many shouted with delight. The verdict comes just two days after a car bomb killed 10 people at a luxury hotel in the capital, Jakarta, and coincided with concern that a shadowy Southeast Asian network linked to al Qaeda might be plotting further strikes.

"The panel of judges declare that the defendant Amrozi has been found guilty of criminal acts in carrying out terrorist crimes... and the sentence on the defendant Amrozi is death," chief judge I Made Karna told the court.

The bombings were "actions beyond the bounds of humanity and outside any religious teachings", Karna said.

Hundreds of revellers, most of them foreign tourists, were packed into nightclubs in Bali's Kuta beach district on a busy Saturday night when two blasts, the largest a massive car bomb, ripped through the area.

Nearly half the dead were Australians enjoying holidays on an island famed for its flower-scented Hindu festivals and golden beaches. Several dozen Indonesians, including Balinese, also died.

"I hope that this verdict provides some sense of comfort to those who lost their loved ones in this tragedy and that they feel that in some way justice has been done," Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters in Sydney.

Australian Jake Ryan, 22, who lost half a foot in the bombing, fought back tears and struggled for words. "It's been a long day," he told Reuters.

Amrozi's lawyer said his client would appeal on the grounds his only contribution to the world's worst act of terror since the September 11, 2001, attacks was to supply a van and chemicals for the car bomb that destroyed one of the two nightclubs.

"He's sorry for those who were not the targets," lawyer Wirawan Adnan told reporters. "He doesn't have anything personal against the Australians for instance. The targets were the Americans and the Jews."