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Man Involved in Bali Bombings Gets Life Sentence - 2004-01-29


An Indonesian court has given a life sentence to a 32-year-old man convicted of helping make the bombs that killed 202 people on the island of Bali in October 2002. This is one of several dozen sentences handed down in connection with Indonesia's worst terrorist attack.

Indonesian judges Thursday said the man, known by the single name Sarjiyo, has shown no remorse and gave him a life sentence for his part of the 2002 Bali bombings. Sarjiyo was convicted of mixing bomb chemicals and renting the house where they were constructed.

His lawyers say he will appeal the conviction.

More than 200 people died when the bombs exploded outside a nightclub crowded with Western tourists. The attack was planned and carried out by the regional Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiyah, or JI.

Members of JI have said that Americans and their allies were the main target of the attack: revenge for the war in Afghanistan and Middle East policy.

Sarjiyo was born a Christian before converting to Islam and going to Afghanistan during the 1980s to fight against the Soviet Union. He is one of 29 suspects to be arrested in connection to the Bali bombings.

Three people have already been sentenced to death for their role, and two others to life imprisonment.

However, three of JI's allegedly most dangerous members, the suspected bomb makers Dr. Azahari Husin and Dulmatin, and financier Nurdin Mohammed Top, remain at large.

Despite Indonesia's success in rounding up large numbers of suspected JI members, analysts say the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group still poses a grave danger.

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