THE younger brother of two men on death row over the deadly 2002 Bali bombings visited their island prison yesterday as speculation mounted over their impending executions.
Ali Fauzi, a brother of bombers Amrozi, 47, and Mukhlas, 48, left the home village in East Java early yesterday to visit them in the island prison where they await the firing squad, another brother Muhammad Chozin said.
"My brother... went with the police and the district head to Nusakambangan at 2:00am this morning in the hope of seeing the brothers for the last time," Chozin said, referring to the island prison off southern Java.
"If they're executed, he'll help prepare their bodies for burial," he said.
A source in the prison confirmed that Fauzi had arrived but could not say if he had met the brothers or if he would have access to their bodies.
News website Detikcom reported that relatives of the bombers would be allowed to witness their execution.
Speculation has been rife in Indonesia over the exact date of the execution of bombers Amrozi, Muklas and Imam Samudra, 38, over the bombings, which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, on the Hindu-majority holiday island.
Authorities have said the bombers will be executed in "early" November but have not given a clear date, allowing sympathisers time to rally to their cause.
Tensions built over the details of the bombers' burial after family members were told the brothers' bodies would be delivered by helicopter pre-wrapped in white shrouds.
Relatives were furious as this meant they would be unable to wash the bodies in line with Muslim custom. But they backed down and agreed to send Fauzi as a family representative after police threatened to take over the funeral.
"As a family we're terrified that we can't handle the bodies but we're worried about the possibility of bloodshed happening, so we accepted it even though we were forced," brother Chozin said.
Prosecutors visited the family of Amrozi and Mukhlas on Friday and told them to "get ready" for the impending execution. Samudra's family received a similar visit on Thursday.
Indonesia usually executes convicts by firing squad in undisclosed locations in the dead of night. The prisoners are told at least three days in advance.
Helicopters have been prepared to take the convicts' bodies from the high-security prison on Nusakambangan island to their villages.
Police have strengthened security across the Muslim-majority archipelago on fears of a violent backlash by radical supporters of the bombers.
Members of the elite Special Detachment 88 anti-terror squad have been sent to Banten province in western Java island in anticipation of Samudra's burial there, Detikcom reported.
Groups of supporters have descended daily on Amrozi's and Mukhlas' village to offer support for the bombers' families and have denounced their impending execution as "murder ", promising hundreds more will come if they are killed.
A crowd of around 50 people chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater) during a brief visit by hardline cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the co-founder of the Jemaah Islamiyah network blamed for the Bali blasts.
Bashir hailed the bombers as "holy warriors" and urged Muslims to follow their example.
Rights campaigners have criticised as illegitimate the bombers 2003 conviction under a retroactive anti-terror law and have called for them not to be executed.
Lawyers for the bombers have dismissed speculation they had asked for clemency in a letter from their families to President Susilo Yudhoyono. A spokesman said no letter had been received.
Police are investigating bomb threats received this week against the US and Australian embassies.
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