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Clashes after Bali bombers' executions

Indonesia - Three executed
Indonesia - Three executed

Three Indonesian Islamists have been executed by firing squad for the Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and ringleader Imam Samudra, 38, were killed with shots to the heart in an orange grove near their prison on Nusakambangan Island off southern Java, local television reported.

The 2002 Bali attack targeted packed nightspots on the holiday island of Bali, killing more than 202 people, including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians.

Until the end, the bombers expressed no remorse for their victims and claimed they wanted to die as martyrs for their dream of an Islamic caliphate spanning much of southeast Asia.

Survivors and victims' families expressed a mixture of relief and sadness at the news.

The bombers, members of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terrorism network, were sentenced in 2003 but launched at least four failed legal challenges which delayed their executions and kept them in the media spotlight.

Hundreds of supporters briefly clashed with police as the bodies of Mukhlas and Amrozi arrived by helicopter at their village of Tenggulun in east Java.

There were similar scenes in the west Java town of Serang as Samudra's body was paraded to the graveyard, shrouded in a black cloth bearing a Koranic inscription in Arabic.

Security has been increased around sensitive areas such as embassies, tourist spots, shopping malls and ports.

Australia has urged citizens to reconsider travel to Indonesia and the US, which lost seven nationals in the attack, has warned Americans to maintain a low profile and avoid demonstrations.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose government opposes the death penalty, said it was a time to remember the victims and survivors of the bloody attack.