Indonesian leader says Bali bombings strengthened nation
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SYDNEY (AFP) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday said the "monstrous act of terror" in Bali 10 years ago failed to achieve its objective and only strengthened interfaith cooperation.
His comments came ahead commemorations to mark the 10th anniversary on Friday, with some 1,000 security personnel deployed in Bali to ensure it passes peacefully after "credible information" of a threat to the ceremony.
The bombings in the predominantly Muslim nation on October 12, 2002, by the Al-Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah, opened an Asia front in the war on terrorism one year after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
More than 200 people died in the blasts on Bali's party strip, many of them Western tourists, although 38 were Indonesian.
