Indonesia on high alert as Bali bombers face firing squad

Cilacap, Indonesia: Three militants convicted of the Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people awaited execution on Saturday as Indonesia stood guard against a feared extremist backlash.

Police have tightened security at tourist destinations, foreign embassies, and Western oil companies.

Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron have shown no remorse for the October 12, 2002, twin nightclub bombings and have publicly expressed hope their executions would trigger revenge attacks.

A source at the Nusakambangan island prison said Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and attack strategist Imam Samudra, 38, had been placed in isolation and the execution

order had been delivered. "The letter ordering the execution was submitted last night at 9pm [1400 GMT Friday]," the source said. He did not say whether the letter gave a precise time for the executions.

Residents at Amrozi's and Mukhlas's home village of Tenggulun, East Java, woke Saturday to find an "H" had been painted on the ground overnight in a nearby field, where a helicopter from Nusakambangan might land with the bodies.

Local television also reported that checkpoints had been set up around Samudra's home town of Serang, and that a grave had been prepared.

Security forces have been placed on high alert across the mainly Muslim country as a precaution against an explosion of Islamist anger at the first executions to be carried out under Indonesia's anti-terror law.

Sensitive areas like foreign embassies and tourist spots were under close guard.