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| Monday, 13 October 2003 |
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Victims, families in emotional Bali bomb remembrance BALI, Indonesia, Sunday (Reuters) Heads bowed and weeping, Australian and other survivors of last year's bomb attacks on Bali island and hundreds of grieving relatives paid tribute on Sunday to the 202 people killed. Voices from a choir of Australian and Indonesian school children drifted over the families at a Christian service on a limestone escarpment overlooking Kuta Beach, where Muslim militants blew up two nightclubs on this day a year ago. About 800 survivors and relatives attended the memorial service, the majority from Australia, which lost 88 citizens in the worst act of terror since the September 11, 2001, strikes on the United States. In all, 22 countries lost people. For many, the emotion of returning has been raw. But there has also been defiance. "If we didn't come back they would have won. It goes to show they can't beat the Australian spirit. We'll keep on coming and sticking it up their face," said Jason Madden, who lost seven friends from Perth's Kingsley Cats football team. Australian Prime Minister John Howard and leaders from Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, were among the 2,000 people at the service, which was open to the public and attracted many who took part in rescue efforts last year. Chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed to fight terrorism and said Indonesia would never rest until it had caught all those behind the blasts. About 40 people have been captured and 20 sentenced, including three convicted to die. Indonesia has warned that Muslim militants were planning more attacks and had built two bombs but insisted the mainly Hindu enclave of Bali was safe for the mourners. Heavily armed police and sniffer dogs were on patrol."These diabolical men and their brand of evil simply has no place in our society. They belong in our darkest dungeons, locked away deep beneath our children's playgrounds. History will condemn them forever," said Yudhoyono. Across Australia, flags flew at half-mast as the country stopped to mark the first anniversary. On a windy cliff top overlooking Coogee beach in Sydney, 1,000 people gathered for the dedication of a memorial at the site renamed Dolphins Point after the Coogee Dolphins rugby league team, which lost six players. Indonesia has blamed the blasts on Jemaah Islamiah, the Southeast Asian militant group with links to al Qaeda. Security experts say it is only a matter of time before Jemaah Islamiah strikes again in Indonesia or elsewhere in the region. In the sombre atmosphere of Bali's Garuda Wisnu Cultural Park, about 20 minutes drive from Kuta and bordered by towering limestone blocks, Howard spoke of the "terrible hatred" of the perpetrators and the need to fight terrorism. Giant copper and bronze statues of the Hindu God Vishnu and the Garuda bird, a symbol of freedom, provided the backdrop as Australian military chaplains held the open-air service. |
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