Bali marks second bombing anniversary

1.00pm


KUTA BEACH, Indonesia - Under a scorching Bali sun with police helicopters providing security, hundreds gathered to mark the second anniversary of blasts that rocked Indonesia's paradise island and killed 202 people.

Many Australians, who lost 88 countrymen in the attack by Islamic militants, defied a warning from their government that Indonesia is still shadowed by the threat of terrorism, and turned up for a sombre ceremony to mark the anniversary.

Several people wore shirts with pictures of lost loved ones and some Australians came straight from the beach in bathing suits, with flags draped across their bodies, for the ceremony.

"I can stay home and be hit by a car. But I'm now here wearing this flag and can become a target. I am not going to be scared," said Queensland tourist Jamie Cameron.

He stood near the place where bombers linked to Jemaah Islamiah, considered al Qaeda's Southeast Asian arm, detonated a huge car bomb on October 12, 2002.

Danny Hanley lost his twin daughters in the blast and said he would come to Bali annually in their honour.

"I am going to be here every year. I lose it every time I talk about them and you never stop crying. But I had to be here. You can't let the terrorists beat us," said the 57-year-old electrician from Sydney, after filming Indonesian and Australian ceremonies at the site.

The Australians joined Indonesians ranging from Balinese Hindus in sarongs to Javanese women wearing Muslim headscarves, and nationals of other countries who suffered in the bloodiest single act of terror in Southeast Asia in recent years.

The commemoration inaugurated the final stage of a memorial just across from the Sari Club where most of the victims were killed as they enjoyed a night out on the Kuta Beach strip.

The Australian ambassador to Indonesia -- who narrowly escaped injury himself when Australia's Jakarta embassy became the target of a bomb last month that killed nine Indonesians -- said the two countries were hand in hand in the fight on terror.

"We are not only united in our grief and sympathy but also in our determination to eradicate this evil from our world," said David Ritchie.

Indonesia has persecuted scores of militants involved in the Bali and other bombings but police are still hunting for the suspected chief bomb maker of the Jemaah Islamiah group, Azahari Husin.

Charges against Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, accused of being the chief of the Jemaah Islamiah, may soon be laid.

Police wanted posters for Azahari and a suspected accomplice, Noordin Top, can be seen all over the vast country.

Ritchie also quoted from a speech delivered by Indonesian president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during last year's commemoration that vowed to put the attackers "in our darkest dungeons, locked away deep beneath our children's playground".

Yudhoyono said that when he was top security minister. Now, many expect he will work hard to stamp out militancy.

Security was tight with more than 1000 policemen, many carrying rifles, deployed during the service.

Terrorists could do the same thing again if given the chance, said Bali police chief I Made Mangku Pastika.

Komang Muliawati, a shopkeeper near the bomb site, said: "The fear is always there, but we feel safe when we see many policemen around."

At sunset, hundreds of people lit candles on nearby Kuta beach while about round 60 surfers paddled out to sea where they formed a circle and placed flowers in the middle, in their own act of remembrance.

At about the same time the bombs exploded two years ago, a candlelit vigil was held.

In Australia, Prime Minister John Howard reaffirmed a commitment to the war on terror as services were held around the nation to mark the anniversary.

"It's an occasion not only to remember those who lost so much and those 88 Australians who were murdered, but also to re-dedicate ourselves in cooperation with our friends in the region and around the world to the fight against terrorism."

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim country. While the vast majority of Muslims are moderate, it was criticised by other countries for not taking the threat of violence seriously enough before the Bali blasts.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Bali bomb blast