Indonesian police doctors yesterday examined the three men convicted of the Bali bombings in preparation for their execution, the Daily Telegraph said, citing unidentified prison officials.

The medical checks on Amrozi, Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra will be used for comparison when autopsies are carried out, the Sydney-based newspaper reported. In June, checks were conducted on two Nigerian drug traffickers two days before they were executed, the Telegraph said.

All non-prison workers were ordered to leave the island where the bombers will be executed by firing squad and small boats were banned from the area, the Telegraph reported. The men are being held at a high-security prison off Java, Indonesia's most-populous island.

The three were convicted for the 2002 bombings in Bali's tourist strip of Kuta Beach that killed 202 people, 88 of them Australians. Indonesia blamed the Southeast Asian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah for the attack. The group, which is linked to al-Qaeda, wants to turn the archipelago into an Islamic state.

Michael Heath 

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Bali bomber execution delays strengthening jihadis: analysts

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DELAYS in executing three Indonesian Islamist militants behind the deadly 2002 Bali bombings are helping build their image as 'holy warriors' and strengthening radicals, analysts say.

Bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra are set to face the firing squad imminently over the attack that killed 202 people on the holiday island, after a long string of legal challenges and bombastic media appearances from prison.

But by appearing to drag out the timing to avoid a violent retribution by supporters, cautious authorities are unwittingly handing a gift to extremists keen to turn the bombers into heroes, analysts said.

'This is the time when they can strengthen their image,' Mr Bantarto Bandoro, a political scientist from the University of Indonesia, told AFP.

'I think we've been held hostage by the decision of the government not to execute the bombers immediately.'

The bombers have been using a media frenzy at home and abroad to taunt the government and victims and portray themselves as willing 'martyrs' for Islam, Mr Bandoro said.

Authorities had initially said the execution would happen before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but the date has since been moved to 'early November'.

Security has been stepped up around the country after threats against the president and foreign embassies, while packs of journalists have camped out at the bombers' home villages and the port near their island prison.

White-clad extremists have protested at the home village of brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas in East Java and elsewhere, including Jakarta, shouting calls for jihad and threats against the Indonesian government.

The circus over the bombers' final days is emblematic of the government's fear of a backlash by Indonesia's small Islamist fringe.

It also highlights weak and corrupt prison authorities who have allowed the bombers to gain celebrity status from behind bars, Mr Bandoro said.

'The appearance of Amzorzi and friends on TV screens is a test for the government, to see if the government is strong enough to execute them,' he said.

The delays have also given extremists time to plan retribution attacks and to build new networks in place of those shattered by a police crackdown on the militant Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network blamed for the Bali attack, JI analyst Noor Huda Ismail said.

'The delay has given jihadis time to organise and meet each other', Mr Noor Huda said.

Authorities had likely delayed the execution until after a visit by Britain's Prince Charles, who left on Wednesday, and until after the Muslim holy day of Friday to limit any violence, Mr Noor Huda said.

The bigger threat was that as radicals gather in support of the bombers, they will form new bonds between disparate groups, he said.

'(The bombers) will be martyrs, it will give jihadists a day to remember', he said.

But Mr John Harrison, an analyst from the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore, said the drawn-out execution process was merely a sign Indonesia was upholding the rule of law after decades of dictatorship.

'It's a tribute to the transition Indonesia has made that this process has been transparent', he said.

'I think the important thing to remember is that the Indonesian govenment has gone through their legal processes.' -- AFP >>>> 

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Militants protest execution

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ISLAMIC extremists rallied in the Indonesian capital on Thursday against the imminent execution of three Bali bombers, as defence lawyers demanded the families be allowed a final visit.

Chanting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is greater), some 100 militants descended on the offices of the national human rights body as the bombers' lawyers met officials inside to demand access for the families.

The radicals condemned the executions, believed to be hours or days away, and praised bombers Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and Imam Samudra, 38, as 'holy warriors'.

They carried banners pledging to follow the bombers' path of jihad or 'holy war' and warning that 'hell' awaits the executioners.

Defence lawyer Mahendradatta urged the human rights body, Komnas Ham, to back the families' demand for visiting rights.

Komnas Ham chairman Ifdhal Kasim said the prisoners had a right to meet their families before they faced the firing squad.

'A prisoner awaiting execution must be given a chance to meet their families', he said, promising to take up the matter with the prosecutors office which handles executions.

Meanwhile the families wrote to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pleading for a delay in the executions, defence lawyer Fahmi Bachmid said.

He said however that the letter was not a request for clemency. The bombers have said they want to die to become 'martyrs' for their dream of creating an Islamic utopia across South-east Asia.

'We don't know the contents of the letter. The families only told me that they hope the execution will be postponed until the president gives an answer to the letter', he said.

The bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.

The government has said the condemned men will be executed by firing squad in 'early November' after they exhausted the appeals process. -- AFP >>>>

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