Bali bombers buried in emotional ceremonies

Tenggulun, Indonesia: Three Indonesian militants executed on Sunday for the 2002 Bali bombings were buried by their families at ceremonies attended by thousands of supporters.

Some analysts had warned of a hardline backlash but the funerals went off relatively peacefully, despite some scuffles with police and reporters.

The three men from the militant group Jemaah Islamiah - Imam Samudra, 38, Mukhlas, 48, and Amrozi, 46 - were executed by firing squad on Nusakambangan island in central Java shortly after midnight, the attorney-general's office said.

The two explosions on Bali's Kuta strip on October 12, 2002 killed 202 people, including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians.

Thousands of people poured onto the streets for the funerals after the bodies were flown by helicopter to their home towns - brothers Mukhlas and Amrozi to Tenggulun in East Java, and Samudra to Serang in West Java.

About 3,000 people gathered when Samudra's body was carried to a mosque. Some jostled to touch the body or help carry the bier.

In Tenggulun, thousands of militant Islamists from various groups had gathered, shadowed by armed police.

The bodies of Mukhlas and Amrozi were taken from the mosque to an Islamic boarding school where controversial cleric Abu Bakar Bashir led prayers for the brothers.

Earlier, there were some clashes with the police as authorities tried to prevent the crowd from getting too close to the bodies.

The attorney general's spokesman said the bombers had asked not to be blindfolded for the execution.

"Only one bullet hit the victims, right on the left chest hitting the heart," Jasman Pandjaitan told a news conference.

Indonesia has tightened security due to fears of revenge attacks and Australia immediately issued a travel warning for citizens going to Indonesia.

"We continue to have credible information that terrorists may be planning attacks in Indonesia," Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told Australian television.

Although there have been no major bomb attacks since 2005, Indonesia is considered still at risk.

Jemaah Islamiah said the Bali attacks were intended to deter foreigners as part of a drive to make Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, part of a larger Islamic caliphate.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his thoughts were with the families of the victims, whose "lives remain shattered."