'Mastermind' defiant as Bali bomb trial begins

The alleged mastermind of the Bali bombing, Imam Samudra, made a defiant appearance in court yesterday when prosecutors read a 43-page indictment accusing him of plotting, organising and carrying out the attack, which killed more than 200 people.

Mr Samudra shouted "Allahu Akbar" - God is most great - as he gesticulated at his defence team in the courtroom in Bali's capital, Denpasar.

"The defendant said there would be a big project to wage war against the United States and [that] several bombing targets in Bali were plotted," the prosecutor, Nyoman Dila, said.

Mr Samudra, 33, has not denied the charges laid against him and has said he would "embrace" the death penalty, which he faces if convicted.

A computer expert and former chicken butcher, described in the indictment as a textile trader, Mr Samudra appears to enjoy his prominence. He evaded capture for alleged involvement in the Christmas bombings of churches across Indonesia in 2000 by using up to seven aliases, but was caught last November after police tracked an email he sent.

Labelled the "field commander" of the Bali attacks, Mr Samudra's true role remains unclear, amid questions about who gave him the orders he has apparently confessed to carrying out. Close observers of the investigation doubt he is the mastermind.

He is among 30 people arrested so far for the Bali bombing. The trial began on May 12 of Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, who is accused of buying explosives and the vehicle used in the attack last October.