Yesterday's Bali bombings killed at least 26 people and left more than 100 injured, 17 of them seriously. Indonesian Major General Ansyaad Mbai has stated that the carnage was the result of suicide bombings.
Gen Mbai said the three attackers went into the restaurants - two in Jimbaran beach resort, the third in Kuta - on Saturday evening wearing explosive vests, which they detonated.
"I have seen them. All that is left is their head and feet," he told the Associated Press news agency.
The BBC's Tim Johnston in Bali says the confirmation strengthens the assumption now being quietly voiced by many Indonesian officials that JI was responsible for these bombings as it was for the attack three years ago.
Gen Mbai said two Malaysian fugitives were suspected of masterminding the strikes - Azahari Bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top, who have been on Indonesia's most wanted lists since the attacks in 2002.
In addition, at least one charge has been found unexploded, and there are rumours that there were a number of other unexploded backpacks. The terror operation may have consisted of both suicide bombers and conventionally placed explosives.
It has for a time been speculated that JI has been greatly weakened by anti-terror efforts and the increasing difficulties of al-Qaeda to support it with funding. At first glance, the fact that this attack was perpetrated with small charges carried by suicide bombers, as opposed to the 2002 attacks which used a large car explosive, may appear to lend some support to that claim. I am not convinced. Increased security, including parking restrictions, has made car bombs very difficult to use on Bali. Small charges, carried by suicide bombers, still require a serious logistical effort, including bombers, bomb-makers and support staff. Bali is a Hindu area in the predominantly Muslim Indonesia, which both makes it a more tempting target for jihadists and pose difficulties as the local population will not include many sympathisers.
The Muslims of Indonesia are mostly hostile to the radical brands of Islam associated with Saudi Arabia, but there are unfortunately signs that JI's terror campaign has radicalised a part of the population and pushed the population at large in a more conservative direction.
Says Sydney Jones, head of the International Crisis Group in Jakarta, “Indonesia will never become Saudi Arabia but it is trending towards a more conservative Islam. Indonesians do not speak Arabic but thanks to Middle East trained imams, they realize that the Islam they have been practicing is far away from the Koranic precepts.”
So, for instance even if in 2003, the Indonesian Parliament voted against the installation of the Sharia- Islamic law-, it nonetheless passed a law discriminating against non-Muslims schools. Also the “moderate” elite is denying the JI’s existence and accusing the CIA of the 2002 Bali bombing. Lastly, the Ulema Council, the highest Islamic authority, recently issued a fatwa condemning religious diversity.
None of which will make it easier for Indonesia to handle the terror threat.
9:30:39 AM 
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