IMAM Samudra, the 33-year-old primary suspect in the Bali bombing, spoke slowly but succinctly in Balinese dialect when he delivered his defence plea to the court last August. He did not hate the Balinese, he claimed, he hated America and its allies, and begged their forgiveness for causing the deaths of Balinese.

The audience crowding the courtroom listened in rapt attention, until the West-Java born Samudra reverted back to his venomous rh