Samudra also appears chillingly indifferent to the suffering of his victims and to his own fate if convicted, according to police and his own statements.

"He's not like ordinary criminals. He doesn't fear death," detective chief Erwin Mappaseng has said.

Just last Wednesday the man who allegedly picked two crowded Western-frequented nightspots as the Bali targets described bombings in general as a part of jihad.

"God will grant forgiveness" if any Muslims die unintentionally in bombings, he testified during the separate trial of terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir.

Asked about Christians, he replied: "Christians are not my brothers." Samudra was also dismissive of Bashir, an elderly Muslim cleric who is accused of leading the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror group.

"It's the age of the Internet but he still talks about mysticism while Muslims are being slaughtered," Samudra told the court.

Police say Samudra has admitted ordering the attack, which killed 202 people from 21 countries in Bali last October, as part of a jihad to avenge injustice against Muslims.

Samudra, 33, who has also admitted to a church bombing at Batam island in 2000, has six aliases but was born Abdul Azis in West Java.

Police have described him as a computer expert who always carried a laptop. Fellow Bali suspect Amrozi has called him brilliant and fluent in English and Arabic.

Samudra is also believed to be a leading member of JI, which is blamed for the Bali blasts and a string of others.

Samudra spent 2 1/2 years in Afghanistan and six more in Malaysia in the 1990s, learning how to handle a number of weapons -- and how to use the Internet.