BALI: Sobbing and clutching pictures of loved ones, survivors of the Bali bombings and hundreds of relatives paid tribute yesterday to the 202 people killed, amid warnings that Muslim militants could strike again.
At a Christian service attended by 2,000 people on a limestone escarpment overlooking Kuta Beach and on the spot where Indonesian Muslim militants blew up two nightclubs exactly a year ago, mourners struggled to make sense of the atrocity.
Floral wreaths were also stacked up against a stone memorial across the road bearing the names of 202 dead from 22 countries, 88 of them Australians. The Balinese honoured their own losses, burning incense and leaving offerings of food.
The Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, and senior leaders from Indonesia took part.
Relatives from Australia and around the world placed flowers, photos and candles to remember their dead in front of the bomb site in the heart of the famous Kuta Beach strip.
Just before sunset, Mr Howard lit candles with more than 1,000 people on Kuta and watched scores of surfers paddle their boards, laden with floral bouquets, out to sea. Against the backdrop of the sinking sun, the surfers made a circle with their boards and tossed the flowers into it.
Indonesia has blamed Jemaah Islamiah, the south-east Asian militant group linked to al-Qaeda, for the worst act of terror since the September 11th attacks.
Ceremonies ended at 11:08 p.m., the exact time a massive car bomb brought holidays to a hellish end one year ago. Hundreds of relatives stood for several minutes to reflect, some on the dirt of the vacant lot that used to be the Sari Club. The only sound was that of muffled weeping.
About 40 people have been caught in connection with the Bali blasts and 20 sentenced, including three to death. Indonesia has warned that Muslim militants are planning more attacks but insisted the mainly Hindu enclave of Bali is safe.
Yesterday was also a day of remembrance in Australia, while in London, 800 people attended a service in St Martin in the Field church for the victims, which included 28 Britons. - (Reuters)