Bali bomb maker says he’s ‘sincerely’ sorry for 202 people, including 11 Hongkongers, his explosives killed
- Hisyam bin Alizein, aka Umar Patek, is now out on parole after serving about half of his 20-year sentence for making the bombs used in the 2002 attack
- The former leading member of Jemaah Islamiah said he apologised ‘especially to the Australians’, 88 of whom were killed by his explosives
Hisyam bin Alizein, better known by his nom de guerre Umar Patek, was a leading member of the al-Qaeda-linked network Jemaah Islamiah, which was blamed for the blasts at two nightclubs in Kuta Beach that killed 202 people – mostly foreign tourists – including 88 Australians and 11 Hong Kong residents.
“I apologise not only to the people in Bali in particular, but I also apologise to all Indonesian people,” Patek told reporters on Tuesday while visiting former militant Ali Fauzi, a long-time friend who runs a programme aimed at deradicalising militants in East Java’s Tenggulun village.
“I also sincerely apologise especially to the Australians who also experienced a very great impact from the Bali bombing crime,” Patek said. “I also apologise to the victims and their families both at home and abroad, whatever their nationality, whatever their ethnicity, whatever their religion, I sincerely apologise to all of them.”
Wearing a grey shirt and a Javanese traditional headgear, Patek received a warm welcome from his old friends, some of whom were former convicts who joined the deradicalisation programme headed by Fauzi.
