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| The attacks in Bali's tourist district were the bloodiest in Indonesian history [GALLO/GETTY] |
With the long-anticipated executions of the Bali bombers now imminent, Indonesia is bracing for the potential security and political fallout of the bombers' deaths.
The three men sentenced to die for their role in the Octoer 2002 attacks are expected to face a firing squad on the Nusakambangan prison island off central Java in the next few days, possibly the next few hours.
Indonesia's attorney general has said the sentences will be carried out before November 15 and officials clearly hope the executions will draw a line under a bloody chapter in the country's history.
The executions have been planned several times before, but on each occasion they were postponed for reasons that remain unclear.
They were cancelled at the last minute in August this year, as the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan approached.
Security risks
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| Family members have had final visits to the condemned men [Reuters] |
Sources have told Al Jazeera that security risks will be limited as a lot of effort is made to pick the right moment for the executions.
Even so, authorities are braced for a violent backlash from supporters of the bombers after they are executed.
The greatest fear is that a fresh wave of bomb attacks will follow.
The three condemned men, two brothers, Amrozi and Mukhlas from East Java and Imam Samudra from West Java have repeatedly told the media that their deaths would be avenged.
Meanwhile several analysts have criticised the government for allowing access to the men on death row on an unlimited basis, so they could make their threats over and over again - possibly firing up supporters to take action.
The attacks in Bali in the evening of October 12, 2002 were the most bloody in Indonesian history.
The largest bomb, weighing more than a tonne, was packed in a van that exploded in front of the Sari Club, a bar popular with Australian holidaymakers.
It went off shortly after a smaller device, carried in a backpack, detonated inside the Paddy’s Club nearby. The two bombs were designed to maximise casualties.
Altogether 202 people died - among them 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians.
Judicial process
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| The convicted bombers were sentenced to death in 2003 [GALLO/GETTY] |
The tourist industry on Bali took years to recover from the attack, while deep scars remain for those who survived.
Within a month of the attack, Amrozi Nurhasiym, a car mechanic from East Java, was arrested.
The plate number of the van used in the attack had given him away.
Amrozi was to become known to many by the nickname "the smiling bomber" because of his jovial appearance during his trial.
When the court passed its verdict and sentenced him to death, he cheered and punched the air.
Two month's after Amrozi's arrest, his older brother Mukhlas and computer expert Imam Samudra, the man prosecutors say was the field commander for the attack, were arrested too.
In 2003 all three men were sentenced to death. A third brother Ali Imron was also implicated in the attack but he got a prison sentence after he decided to cooperate with the police.
According to terrorism experts, Mukhlas is a former leader of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a South-East Asian group that advocates the creation of an Islamic state, by violence if necessary.
Terrorism links
According to Western intelligence agencies, JI has close connections with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
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| The attacks on packed nightspots killed 202 mainly foreign holidaymakers [AFP] |
Mukhlas and Imam Samudra both fought in Afganistan in the 1980s, and Mukhlad was said to have known bin Laden personally, even naming one of his children after him.
During the trial, evidence was shown by prosecutors that the Bali attacks were planned early in 2002 in a meeting in Bangkok where Mukhlas received around $30,000.
The three men have never shown any remorse, although they have apologised for the Indonesian Muslims who died during the attacks.
As for themselves, while their lawyers have fought a seemingly endless legal battle against their execution, the three bombers have repeatedly said they are happy to die as martyrs.
The families and supporters of the men say that as soon as their bodies are released, they will be given a hero's funeral.
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