editorial comment In the meantime, the Indonesian police was busy doing pee raids in bars to catch drug users...

Indonesian authorities say that suicide bombers were responsible for the bomb blasts that killed at least 25 people on the island resort.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has visited the sites of the three explosions and vowed to combat terrorist acts with a tougher national response.

His officials have blamed Jemaah Islamiah for the attacks, saying the bombs looked like the work of two Malaysian fugitives believed to have masterminded similar attacks in the past.

Meanwhile, Australian forensic and explosives experts have arrived in Bali to begin their task of investigating the explosions.


PETER LLOYD: An RAAF Hercules aircraft lumbers along the tarmac at Denpasar airport.

It’s a re-run of the medical mercy mission mounted after the first Bali bombings almost three years ago to the day. This time there are fewer evacuees, fewer burn victims. The most seriously injured have wounds caused by shrapnel packed into the suicide bombers’ devices to cause maximum carnage.

Australian Ambassador to Indonesia David Ritchie was there to supervise the airlift operation.

DAVID RITCHIE: Well, I mean, it's just appalling. I arrived as ambassador here two days after the Bali bombing in 2002. I have about a month or so to go as ambassador in Indonesia, and here we have another terrible bombing and…

PETER LLOYD: Is Bali a no-go zone at the moment for Australians?

DAVID RITCHIE: No, no, I mean, our travel advice remains as it has for exactly three years, which says defer non-essential travel to Indonesia. We've said that since the 12th of October 2002.

PETER LLOYD: Indonesian Police have launched a manhunt for at least three people they suspect of helping carry out Saturday night’s Bali bombings. A number of officials have blamed Jemaah Islamiah for the attacks.

But President Susilo BambangYudhoyono stopped short of publicly naming the organisation which is suspected of being behind past attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings and the suicide attack on the Australian Embassy in Jakarta last year.

President Yudhoyono said there were good reasons to be confident about progress in this investigation.

SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO: This attack was done by the terrorists, the suicide bombers, both in Jimbaran and in Kuta Square.

But there is a clue, actually, to understand and to know what’s the motive behind this bombing. We have the evidence right now and we try to conduct analysis more, to hope we could disclose the conclusions of this investigation and analysis. And of course, at this time around, I should not point out what the groups are responsible in this incident, the motive behind and other objective. There are many possibilities of course.

PETER LLOYD: Some Australians have cut short their stay in Bali, and those who remain behind appear to be curbing their activities.


Three years ago Paddy’s Bar in Kuta was a terror target. Last night the usually crowded and rowdy club was deserted during the screening of National Rugby League Grand Final. Only a dozen or so Australians had gathered to watch the contest.

Sue Lawler from Hervey Bay in Queensland was among them.

SUE LAWLER: I suppose you become blasé about these things, you know, with the bombing and that, because it's happened all around the world. Once it's happened here, is it going to happen again immediately?

PETER LLOYD: Given the fact that we're surrounded by empty seats, it seems a lot of people don't have your confidence.

SUE LAWLER: Yeah. It's having got to know the Balinese people and having spoken to the people, how much the last bombing affected their livelihood, I feel really sorry for them because people won't come here and they will lose their livelihood.

PETER LLOYD: Not for the first time, the resilience of tourists in Bali is being put to the test. In Kuta Beach, this is Peter Lloyd reporting for AM.

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