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| Southeast Asia |
| Imam Samudra's got a book |
| 2004-09-07 |
| The man accused of masterminding the Bali bombings has written an autobiography in which he attempts to justify his role in the attacks in which 202 people were killed, the book's publisher said on Tuesday. Imam Samudra has completed a 280-page volume while on death row after being convicted of playing a key role in the October 2002 blasts, publisher Bambang Sukirno told AFP. The book outlines Samudra's journey from a 20-year-old Islamic militant fighting in Afghanistan to his involvement in the Bali attacks, planned by the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror group. "It will have Samudra's reasoning behind the Bali bomb operations, why he deemed such actions necessary," Sukirno said, adding that Samudra's royalties from the book would go to an undisclosed charity. Sukirno, whose private publishing company, Jazeera, has produced an initial print run of 5000, said the book was already on shelves in the city of Solo on Java island and would shortly be available in Jakarta and other cities. On sale for 37 000 rupiah (about four dollars), the autobiography features a cover picture of Samudra, dressed in white and sporting a traditional Muslim cap, pointing his finger in warning against a backdrop of flames. Sukirno said the book's unusual title, "Me, Battling Terrorists", had been agreed between the author and publisher but offered no further explanation. "I personally edited the script but actually did not change much. I even let him use English words and idioms," Sukirno said. Samudra, who has shown no remorse over the bombings and was openly defiant during court appearances, includes personal details in the book including an account of how he met his wife. It also has a chapter dedicated to one of his field of expertise, computer sciences. The chapter is entitled: "Hacking: Why not?" The Indo Pos daily quoted Samudra (34), as saying the autobiography was written during detention, using paper and ink provided by his team of lawyers. "What is quite important and meaningful for me, is that the original script was halaal (acceptable under Islamic law) as it was written using ink and paper given by the Muslim defence lawyers' team and not ink and paper from the police or the state," he said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 Sukirno said ... that Samudra’s royalties from the book would go to an undisclosed charity. Tell you what, that "undisclosed charity" had better be something like the Bali victims' fund and not some d@mned stinking madrassah. Otherwise, this is merely another terrorist venture operating from behind bars. I also wish someone, somewhere with a spare $20K would buy the entire printing run and then burn it publicly. This whole schtick reeks of promoting terrorist agendas. Samudra needs a shiv between his ribs, real bad. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-09-07 1:44:22 PM |
| #3 And I thought Paris Hilton's new one was gonna be a tough read... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-09-07 1:11:27 PM |
| #2 He could have called it "My Jihad". After all, "jihad" means "struggle", right? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-09-07 1:05:24 PM |
| #1 Sukirno said the book’s unusual title, "Me, Battling Terrorists", had been agreed between the author and publisher but offered no further explanation. Mein Kampf was already taken. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-09-07 12:01:26 PM |