'Risk of attack' at Bali memorial

Survivors and relatives will attend a special service in Bali on 12 October

Australia has warned against travel to Bali, as hundreds prepare to visit the Indonesian island to mark the anniversary of last year's bomb attacks.

The Australian Foreign Affairs Department said it was continuing to receive reports that attacks were being planned against a variety of targets, and reissued a warning against non-essential travel to the holiday island.

The government's mindful that many Australians deeply affected by the bombings may judge their attendance at these services to be essential travel Australian foreign ministry

The travel warning came as Indonesian police admitted that suspected militants who are still at large may possess bomb-making materials.

"We have information that there are several materials which have been turned into bombs being carried around," Indonesian police chief Dai Bachtiar said.

Up to 1,500 Australians, including the Prime Minister John Howard, are expected to attend a 12 October commemoration service on Bali.

The Australian Government has said financial assistance is available for those who want to go. Eighty-eight of the 202 people who died in last year's bombings were Australian.

Dennis Richardson, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, said there might be a threat to memorial events.

"You have a specific event; the downside of that is that people know about it in advance.

"The upside of that is that you have very active and serious engagements by both governments" to fight the terror threat, he said.

The Australian foreign ministry conceded that relatives of attack victims and survivors might consider their attendance at the memorial to be "essential travel".

Heightened security

Indonesian police said specific security arrangements would be made for the day of the memorial.

Inspector General I Made Mangku Pastika said he wanted to block traffic and close shops on the main strip in Kuta where last year's bombings took place.

"I will talk about this with the residents of Kuta. We are worried that if people are there en masse a car could come in and explode," Mr Pastika told reporters.

The Australian Government has yet to announce the location for the early morning memorial service, but said it would weigh carefully security considerations.

In addition to the formal service, there will be a ceremony on the beach in the late afternoon, Mr Pastika said.

After last year's attack, angry Australians demanded why they had not been better warned by the foreign ministry.

Americans had been told to avoid crowded tourist spots in Indonesia.

Australia's intelligence watchdog said on Wednesday that authorities had no warning of the Bali attacks before they happened.

"There was no intelligence that could either directly then, or with the benefit of hindsight, be shown to point to the likelihood of an attack of that kind," Intelligence and Security Inspector-General Bill Blick told an inquiry.