BALI, Indonesia (11 Oct 2003) -- Paddy's, one of two nightclubs bombed by terrorists a year ago, has reopened and is once again crowded nightly with smiling foreigners drinking cheap beer and swaying to the sounds of a local rock band. Bar manager Gusti Ketut Nurdiade, who survived the Oct. 12 blast that killed 202 people and was treated for extensive burns, relishes the packed house. But much like the popular tourist island, getting his old life back hasn't been so easy. "I'm suspicious of strangers and I can't get myself to look at photos of the bombing," Nurdiade said. "It's still all very traumatic. Sometimes my heart starts beating fast and I can't explain why." Sunday is the anniversary of the Bali bombings - the worst terror attack since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. The bombings catapulted Indonesia into the front lines of the international war on terror and forced the world's most populous Muslim country to confront a growing extremist fringe. A year later, Bali's economy is coming back and most of the suspects are behind bars - three of them sentenced to death. President Bush is due to meet President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Oct. 22 in Bali to show his support. But the August bombing at Jakarta's Marriott hotel was a deadly reminder that Jemaah Islamiyah, the al-Qaida linked Southeast Asian militant group blamed for both attacks, remains dangerous. Bali police chief Inspector-General I Made Mangku Pastika warned on Saturday that militants were at large and remained dangerous. "Some of the suspects of the Bali bombing are still out there and they have become smarter," he told reporters. "They have become more sophisticated in hiding from police, and they have stopped using electronic communications." U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce said the bombings forced Indonesia's 210 million people to "realize that terrorism was not a problem alien to them." "The early, dramatic results of the Bali investigation were proof positive that there has been a sea change in attitude ... but I don't think anybody should rest on their laurels," he said. Security will be tight this weekend as more than 2,000 people - most of them Australians remembering their country's 88 victims - descend on the island for the anniversary. | | The Bali bombings were the worst terror attack since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Australian Prime Minister John Howard will take part in an outdoor memorial service. Later, mourners will visit the bomb site for a moment of silence. Mourners on Friday walked to the bomb site and a nearby temple that features a granite stone with victims' names etched in gold. Some left messages to their loved ones on a nearby fence, including one that read: "Dear Mummy, Have a good night in the sky, Love Katie." At the new Paddy's bar about 100 yards from the site, a patron who identified himself as John raised his glass and proclaimed to loud cheers: "Tell the terrorists we're back. We want to show the terrorists that we win." On Oct. 12, 2002, the popular stretch of nightclubs and bars in Bali known as Kuta was filling up with its usual mix of foreign backpackers, rugby players and the occasional family. Just before 11 p.m., a dark Mitsubishi minivan packed with 110 pounds of explosives pulled in front of the Sari Club. An Indonesian later identified as Iqbal strolled into Paddy's wearing a bomb concealed in a vest. The initial bomb at Paddy's sent the crowd scrambling into the street and toward the Sari Club. Many who died in the second, much larger explosion were fleeing the first one. Bodies littered the street, buildings were in flames and hospitals quickly filled. Since then, Indonesia's courts have convicted 21 suspects for the bombings and handed out three death sentences. The bombers have confessed that Jemaah Islamiyah financed and carried out the attack to punish the West for its perceived injustices against Muslims. |
