Bali bomb victims mourned

Children handed flowers to the bereaved

The Prince of Wales and other dignitaries have attended a service of commemoration for the victims of the Bali bombing.

The service at London's Southwark Cathedral is being attended by the families and friends of the 26 UK citizens who lost their lives in the blast and the 17 who received serious injuries.

At this moment of high tension over Iraq and international concern about terrorism, it will be a particularly poignant memorial

Reverend Colin Slee, Dean of Southwark

At least 180 people died when a bomb tore through the Sari club and Paddy's Bar in the Indonesian island's resort of Kuta on the evening of 12 October last year.

The ceremony was also attended by Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Home Secretary David Blunkett and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

It took place just days after an Indonesian suspect admitted building the bombs that brought devastation to an island famed for its tranquillity.

The Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, told the families of those who died he understood they were feeling "shock and disbelief, pain, anguish, sadness, grief anger and above all a sense of loss, irrecoverable loss".

Marc Gajardo died in the blast

Click here to read his father's story

Candles were lit in memory of those who died and children from the Cathedral School took 569 orchids to the families of the victims, seated in the nave of the Cathedral.

A London-based Balinese music group - Gamelan Kembang Kirang - also played at the service.

Actress Jemma Redgrave gave a moving reading of Farewell My Friends, a poem by Hindu poet Rabindranath Tagore, while Mr Straw gave a bible reading.

Bishop Harries said those who had been robbed of their loved ones had an important role to play.

"Those who have survived this awful bombing, with all its shock and trauma, have still the gift of life, a gift which can be used to help others and heal our broken world.

"The terrorist outrage in Bali brings home to us once again the tragic nature of the world in which we live, the evil which defaces human life.

"Terrorism remains a threat but it must be defeated but defeating it involves more than good intelligence and the appropriate use of force.

"It involves belief in the values for which we stand. It involves confidence in the human spirit."

Family's struggle

One of those attending the service was Ray Gajardo, whose 30-year-old son Marc died in the terror attack.

Mr Gajardo told BBC News Online he still finds it hard to accept his son's death, but he and his family are gradually coming to terms with it.

Speaking after the service, Alex Braden, whose son Daniel, 28, died in Bali, said he would like to meet those who carried out the bombing.

He said: "I would like the opportunity to sit and talk to them and find out what they think they were doing, what they think they achieved."

He said the service had brought back painful memories.

"We all have up days and down days and today is an up day," he said.

"We all had our little moments in there, different things were harder."

Ali Imron, who earlier this week admitted to building the fatal bombs, is one of a score of suspects arrested by Indonesian police in connection with the bombing.

Ali Imron has admitted to the Bali bombing

The attack has been linked by police to Southeast Asia's Jemaah Islamiah Muslim militant group, which in turn has been tied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

Another suspect known as Mukhlas, or as Ali Gufron, was arrested on the island of Java last December and is said to be a key member of the Jemaah Islamiah organisation.

Mukhlas's brother, Amrozi, has also been arrested and is said to have admitted owning the van used to bomb the Sari Club and to buying explosives.

Mukhlas, Amrozi and another suspect, the alleged "mastermind" of the bombings, Imam Samudram, are all said to have attended an Islamic school in southern Malaysia either as students or teachers.