Indonesians Ask Why Muslims Turn to Bombs

PAMARICAN, Indonesia - Aip Hidayat was a devout Muslim but showed no signs of fanaticism. He did not force his younger sister to wear a head scarf, chastise friends for skipping prayers or get into fiery debates about the U.S. war in Iraq. Yet the 21-year-old became the seventh person to carry out a suicide bombing in Indonesia, something many said was inconceivable just a few years ago.

Hidayat's mother says al-Qaida-linked terrorists recruited her eldest son as a foot soldier for their "holy war," poisoning his views on Islam so he would take part in triple suicide bombings on Oct. 1 that killed 20 people on the resort island of Bali.

"They used him," Siti Rokayah, 40, said quietly, sitting on a straw mat in a cramped two bedroom hut, photographs of a smiling and carefree Hidayat scattered before her. "I hope whoever did this to my son will be arrested and punished."

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, but most people here practice a moderate form of the faith.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/indonesia_suicide_bombers