The suspected mastermind of the Bali bombings began his day in court on Monday by thanking the prosecutors for demanding a death sentence and said execution by firing squad would bring him closer to God.

Imam Samudra, a 33-year-old Muslim computer expert, was speaking to a court that less than a week ago sentenced the "smiling bomber" Amrozi to death for his role in the bombings of two nightclubs that killed 202 people last October.

Samudra, wearing the loose white shirt and a skull cap he favors to distinguish him as a Muslim believer, began his statement by reciting verses in Arabic from the Koran.

"I'd like to say thank you to the prosecutor team, which has demanded the death sentence. Because in death we live peacefully, and in death we draw near to God," Samudra told the court.

Political analysts have said the tough demands by prosecutors showed the world's most populous Muslim nation wanted harsh verdicts to show it is serious about tackling Islamic militancy.

Like other Bali accused, Samudra and Amrozi were students of elderly Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, said to be the leader of the shadowy militant Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group and who is currently on trial for treason. Prosecutors will make their demand for sentencing Tuesday and Bashir faces a life term.

The JI group, blamed for the Bali bombings and linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, has emerged as the prime suspect in last Tuesday's bombing of the U.S.-run luxury JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta that killed 11 people.

Bashir set up an Islamic school near the central Java city of Solo. The man identified as the suicide bomber in last week's hotel bombing attended that institution, school officials have said.

Bashir has denied the existence of JI even though numerous witnesses at his trial and former students have described him as the spiritual leader of JI, whose goal is to establish an Islamic state across much of Southeast Asia.

Samudra has admitted to being involved in the nightclub attacks on the tourist island's famed Kuta beach strip and said he wanted to wage war on the United States. But he has denied being the ground commander of the Bali attack.

The one-time chicken butcher and perfume seller was arrested just over a month after the Bali attacks when police caught up with him in the port of Merak, in western Java.

Samudra was on a bus about to board a ferry for Sumatra island when police found him after he sent an email from an Internet cafe. They had already been tracking him across Indonesia, following his withdrawals from cash machines, security experts said.

Bashir spoke to his followers Sunday in a message sent from his jail cell to a congress of his Mujahiden Council of Indonesia in which he urged Muslims to adhere to their faith without fear of being labeled "terrorists."

Defense Minister Matori Abdul Djalil said Friday he was certain JI was to blame for the Marriott bombing, and police say a trove of evidence gathered at the scene points to JI.

The size of the group and the capabilities of JI's members after fighting or training in Afghanistan could not be underestimated, he said.

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