Indonesia recalls 2002 Bali tragedy
On the day of the fourth anniversary of the bombs, 12 km of white cloth were unfurled on the island as a sign of peace. Prayers are being held in Hindu temples.
Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies) Today, Indonesia recalled the fourth anniversary of two bombs that killed 202 people in Bali on 12 October 2002. As a sign of peace, 12km of white cloth were unfurled on the island. Most of the people killed in the blasts four years ago were tourists, including 88 Australians. Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the al-Qaeda-linked Southeast Asian terrorist network claimed responsibility for the attacks. JI was also responsible for a second attack on the island last year: three bombs went off around renowned coastal areas, killing 20 people.
At midnight yesterday, Balinese citizens began to lay the white cloth outside one of the three cafes hit in the 2005 blasts at Jimbaran beach. The cloth was unrolled along the road to the front of the international airport and then to a victims' memorial in the tourist district of Kuta. Save Dagun, one of the organizers of the event, said the white cloth is a symbol of "our willingness to forget the past while at the same time recalling the tragedies that have hit this land." A number of services and prayers will also be held in temples on the predominantly Hindu island.
The Indonesian courts sentenced to death Amrozi, Ali Gufron and Imam Samudra, held to the main perpetrators of the bomb attacks. The three men should have been executed on 22 August but their request for an appeal at the eleventh hour forced the temporary suspension of the execution.
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