Australia relieved at verdict

By Phil Mercer BBC, Sydney

There is relief and satisfaction in Australia at the verdict handed down to the convicted Bali bomber, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim.

But feelings are mixed over whether he should have been given the death penalty.

Eighty-eight Australians were among the 202 victims of the October 2002 bomb explosions at the resort of Kuta, inflicting the biggest single tragedy in Australia since the end of World War II.

Many of those injured in the attacks will carry the mental and physical scars forever.

I just want him to suffer the way we have all had to suffer Michelle O'Donnell

Amrozi is known in the Australian media as the smiling assassin. His lack of contrition infuriated an entire nation.

Some survivors and relatives of those who died had hoped the judges would impose a life sentence.

Michelle O'Donnell, a woman from Melbourne whose daughter Jessica died in the bomb blasts, said she did not want Amrozi to die a martyr's death.

"I just want him to suffer the way we have all had to suffer," she said.

For others touched by the tragedy there is satisfaction at the penalty handed down to the Indonesian mechanic.

A woman who lost her brother-in-law last October said Amrozi deserved to die after being convicted of planning and carrying out the attack.

It thrust Australia and its people to the forefront of international terrorism for the first time.

The government in Canberra has warned there could be another wave of bombings aimed at western targets in Indonesia in retaliation at the punishment handed down in Bali.