Indonesia, Australia remember 2002 Bali bombings

JIMBARAN, Indonesia - Families of Indonesian and foreign victims marked the fourth anniversary on Thursday of deadly bombings by Islamic militants on Bali with ceremonies and prayers.

Some 20 Australians and 50 Indonesians from families of the victims participated in an Australian-sponsored, low-key memorial on the resort island to remember their loved ones.

The bombings of two nightclubs in Kuta Beach on Oct. 12, 2002 killed 202 people, most of them Western tourists, and were blamed on the Southeast Asia militant group, Jemaah Islamiah.

Three New Zealanders were killed in the bomb attacks in downtown Kuta.

Jared Gane, Mark Parker and Jamie Wellington died and many New Zealanders were injured in the blasts that ripped apart Paddys Bar and the Sari Club, night spots popular with foreigners.

Ministers from Australia, which lost 88 nationals in the tragedy, had attended the past three high-profile annual commemorations.

But on Thursday, the Australian ambassador was the top official representative from Indonesia's neighbour at a tightly-guarded site a few miles away from the bombsite at bustling Kuta beach.

"We will not allow terrorists to spread disorder and dismay, to drive people, faiths and neighbours apart," said Ambassador Bill Farmer. "They have failed. They have failed utterly. And they will not succeed."

Those at the early morning ceremony at the Garuda Wisnu Kencana cultural park in Jimbaran, where limestone hills loom over Bali's beaches, listened to a poetry reading and scattered flowers into a pond.

"I remember everything about him. How can I forget him," said David "Spike" Stewart, who lost his son Anthony after militants bombed nightclubs in the Kuta entertainment area.

Alief, an 8-year-old Indonesian, said he missed his father Imawan Sarjono, who was killed in the attacks.

"Now, no matter where I look for him, I find a grave every single day. I long to see my daddy who went away," he said in a poem he read at the ceremony.

Later on Thursday, hundreds of people, some wearing traditional Balinese costumes, participated in a peace march through the streets of Kuta which were covered by white cloth.

Activists also laid a white cloth strip along the 12 km route from the bombsite to Jimbaran beach, symbolising serenity.

"We do not need to cry for the victims of the Bali bombings anymore," said Safe Dagun who was behind the long cloth plan. "They are martyrs. They are pearls that are grounded in our hearts to fight evil in this world and combat terrorism.

"We want serenity this year. No speeches," he told Jakarta-based Radio Elshinta.

In Australia, Prime Minister John Howard said the tragedy had actually brought the country closer to Indonesia, and 300 people attended a service at a Sydney beach.

"That attack demonstrated that terrorism strikes in an indiscriminate fashion, and strikes without regard to the race or religion or political beliefs or political behaviour or political motivations of people," Howard told parliament.

At a ceremony at St James' Park in London, Britain's Prince Charles unveiled a memorial for the victims of the bombings, watched by survivors of the attacks and friends and relatives of the victims.

UK Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said the memorial, a granite globe carved with 202 doves, would "stand for ever as a testament" as she read out the names of the 28 Britons who died.

The memorial, designed by sculptor Garry Breeze, stands before a curved wall listing the names of those who died.

Indonesia launched a massive crackdown after the bombings, including the prosecution of some 300 people related to various terror attacks and plots. Three main actors behind the 2002 bombings are on death row awaiting executions by firing squad.

Terrorism experts and state security agencies say Jemaah Islamiah had links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

Ansyaad Mbai, the head of Indonesia's counter-terrorism desk, said this week Jakarta should not rest on its laurels because the terrorism threat remained "real and present".

- REUTERS