Ceremony remembers Bali dead

2004-10-12 08:54

Kuta - Exactly two years after terrorist bombs killed 202 people on Indonesia's Bali, families and friends of the victims and survivors on Tuesday gathered to remember their fallen loved ones.

In an emotional but low-key ceremony, mourners laid flower wreaths, sang songs and observed 202 seconds of silence for those who died in explosions deliberately aimed at Western tourists on the night of October 12, 2002.

"We are here to remember all of those who died or were injured here on this site on that awful day," Australia's ambassador to Indonesia David Ritchie said in a speech at a newly-completed monument bearing the names of the victims.

Some 120 Australian family members and friends of the dead were joined by British, Indonesian and other mourners from the 22 nations who counted their countrymen among the dead.

Many survivors were also among the crowd paying respects at the monument at the site of the bombings on Bali's Kuta tourist strip.

Time to heal

"It is good after two years, when I have had time to heal, to come back to something like this," said Andrew Csabi of Australia's Gold Coast who lost a leg in the bombing.

"Next year I will have improved even more. Every day is a new challenge, but I'm getting better."

Australian Natalie Juniardi, who lost her Indonesian husband, surf shop owner Juniardi, in the blasts, said the event brought back difficult memories.

"On ceremonies and events like this, it is hard. It is hard every day, but life goes on with my two children," she said.

Most of the victims were foreigners visiting the resort island on holiday. In the wake of the attack, Bali's vital tourism industry suffered heavily as its hotels and beaches were deserted.

The attack by the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group was the worst in terms of human casualty since the September 11, 2001 strikes on New York and Washington.

Although tourists are returning to Bali, the island's economy is still suffering the effects of the attack, while many victims and relatives of those who died say they are struggling to cope with the pain and memories.

With some of the main suspects in the bombing still at large and blamed for a deadly September 9 attack on Australia's embassy in Jakarta and on the city's Marriott hotel in August 2003, Indonesia is also yet to draw a line under the attack.

Pastika, who led operations to apprehend more than 30 Bali bombers, said the attacks were seen by Islamic militants as strike against the United States.

"In their minds all white men are Americans, that is the problem," he said.

- SAPA