“I am an expert bomb maker. I can make bombs in just five minutes.”
Ali Fauzi was a key member of Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant group with links to al-Qaeda, which was responsible for Indonesia's worst attack – the 2002 Bali bombing that killed more than 200 people.
“My brothers carried out the Bali bombing. It was huge bomb in the heart of the island's tourist district.”
The group went on to carry out a string of bombings in Indonesia. They were deadly attacks on major hotels and Western embassies. The seemingly sleepy village of Tenggulun in Lamongan, East Java was the group's base camp.
Now Ali Fauzi's mission is very different. He works to help former jihadis leave a life of violence and to stop new recruits from joining the next wave of militant groups in South East Asia.
“The reality is that it is much easier to recruit people to terrorist groups,” he says.
“They only have to pull a trigger and lots of people will join them but the process of deradicalisation takes time. It has to be done step by step.”
And his new mission has come at a high personal cost.
“The threats against me are intense, it's not just verbal attacks but death threats. But, honestly, I am not scared because I know what I am doing is right. I am ready and prepared to die doing this.”
…
