(I wouldn't call this an apology.)

Suspect Apologizes For Beheadings of 3 Christian Girls

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A suspected Islamic militant told judges Wednesday he took part in the beheadings of three Christian girls on an Indonesian island wracked by religious violence to avenge the deaths of Muslims, but apologized to their families.

"We are not cold-blooded killers," Hasanuddin, 34, told the Central Jakarta District Court. "We just wanted revenge."

Hasanuddin told the court he and the two other defendants were especially angry about a 2000 attack on an Islamic boarding school in the coastal town of Poso that left at least 70 people dead.

Three Christian men were executed in September for the slayings, but at his trial Hasanuddin claimed the masterminds of the school attack were still free.

"Male and female students were beheaded and buried in the nearby hills ... many of them raped before being killed," Hasanuddin said. In comparison, he said, the deaths of the Christian girls "were nothing."

He said he hoped the girls' families would accept his apology "for the sake of a peaceful Poso."

FULL STORY at
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Indonesia_Beheading_Trials.html