DENPASAR (Indonesia) Nov 17: The man who masterminded the Bali bombings has lost his appeal against a death sentence, a court official said on Monday.

Imam Samudra is the second key bomber on death row to have his appeal rejected, after Amrozi.

The Bali high court has rejected the appeals of Samudra and of several others who sought lower prison terms, its chief I Made Tara was quoted by the state Antara news agency as saying.

Samudra’s lawyer Wirawan Adnan told AFP he had not been notified of the high court’s ruling but was not surprised. He declined comment on whether Samudra will now appeal to the country’s supreme court, as Amrozi has done.

Investigators believe Samudra is a leading member of the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network, which staged the attack on two crowded nightclubs to avenge Western oppression of Muslims worldwide.

The bombings on October 12, 2002, killed 202 people — mostly Western holidaymakers. The Afghanistan-trained Samudra had once said he would welcome death as bringing him closer to God. Executions are by firing squad.

But when he was sentenced by the district court on September 10, defence lawyers said he would appeal because he should have been tried under Islamic law.

Samudra, 33, attended planning meetings, selected the blast targets in Bali and assigned tasks to the bombers as part of a holy war against the United States and its allies. A third bomber called Mukhlas is also on death row and has also said he will appeal. A fourth key bomber called Ali Imron escaped with a life sentence after expressing remorse.

Earlier on Monday Imron gave evidence in the trial of Abdul Ghoni, who could face a firing squad if found guilty of helping plan the attacks, helping to assemble the bombs and possessing explosives.

Imron, 33, on Monday revised statements he made in earlier trials.

He said he had earlier mistakenly stated that the bombers were allotted their tasks during a meeting at the home of a man called Hernianto at Solo in Central Java.

Imron said he now remembered that the meeting was held at a house rented by Dulmatin, a leading suspect who is still on the run.Hernianto has been jailed for 12 years as an accomplice. Imron said that during the meeting at Dulmatin’s house, Ghoni was tasked with mixing the ingredients for the bomb.

But when it was actually made, Ghoni did not take part in mixing the ingredients, Imron alleged. “The one who assembled the bomb was Dulmatin.”

Imron said he first met Ghoni in Afghanistan in 1991.

Prosecutors say Ghoni — alias Umar, alias Wayan — helped mix the chemicals on October 1 after he had crushed the ingredients a month earlier.—AFP